The musician was not happy to learn that one of her songs is used in SeaWorld shows

Dec 10, 2013 08:42 GMT  ·  By
Joan Jett wants SeaWorld to quit playing "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" during "Shamu Rocks" performances
   Joan Jett wants SeaWorld to quit playing "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" during "Shamu Rocks" performances

American rock guitarist and singer Joan Jett is a vegetarian, a defender of animal rights and a long-time friend of green group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

Hence, it really should not come as a surprise that she is not a fan of marine park SeaWorld, whom PETA has many times accused of torturing whales and other marine mammals it keeps captive.

By the looks of it, Joan Jett likes SeaWorld so little that she does not even want the marine park to use her songs in its shows. Thus, the singer has recently asked that SeaWorld quit playing her “I Love Rock 'n' Roll” during its “Shamu Rocks” performances.

PETA says that Joan Jett only learned that SeaWorld was using her song after watching a YouTube video of a “Shamu Rocks” show. She immediately sent a letter to Jim Atchison, the marine park's current president and CEO, and demanded that the song be dropped from the performance.

“I was surprised and upset to see on YouTube that SeaWorld used ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’ as the opening music for its cruel and abusive ‘Shamu Rocks’ show. I’m among the millions who saw Blackfish and am sickened that my music was blasted without my permission at sound-sensitive marine mammals,” the singer's letter reads.

Furthermore, “These intelligent and feeling creatures communicate by sonar and are driven crazy in the tiny tanks in which they are confined. If I don’t receive written confirmation that SeaWorld will cease and desist from using any Joan Jett & the Blackhearts music, I will be forced to take further action, and you’ll find me among the PETA protesters outside your parks.”

The marine park has not yet responded to Joan Jett's request, but odds are it will drop “I Love Rock 'n' Roll” for its “Shamu Rocks” show. Unless they want to keep getting bad publicity, that is.

As previously reported, SeaWorld's popularity plummeted after the release of documentary film “Blackfish.” The film documents the horrible conditions that animals at SeaWorld live in and the abuses that they suffer, and might even win an Oscar at the upcoming ceremony in March 2014.