PHOENIX, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Pop singer Lady Gaga protested Arizona's immigration law but refused to go along with contemporaries who asked her to boycott the state, observers say.
The pop star spoke out twice during Saturday's sold-out concert in Phoenix's U.S. Airways Center, saying SB 1070 created "a state of emergency" in Arizona, told her fans she would not boycott the state as other performers such as Kanye West, Rage Against the Machine and Sonic Youth have done, The Arizona Republic reported Sunday.
"I got a call from some big rappers and big rockers. They said, ''We'd like you to boycott Arizona because of SB 1070.' I told them, 'Do you really think that us ... pop stars are going to shut down the state?" Lady Gaga said.
"We have to be active. We have to actively protest. ... I will not cancel my show. I will hold you, and we will hold each other, and we will protest this state," she said.
The performer's second address to the crowd later in the concert concerned the song "You and I" which she dedicated to a boy she had met in Phoenix prior to her concert.
"They took his brother, and now he is in Mexico. ... It's really (unfair), and it's really disgusting. I think it's important that people understand that it's a state of emergency for this place and this state," Lady Gaga.
Some of the most controversial provisions of the law have been blocked temporarily by a federal judge.
