“Speechless…For Now,” Says Jimmie Vaughan
Texas blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan’s legacy was disrespected in the most outrageous of ways this week when taggers vandalized his memorial statue with graffiti. The statue, an Austin city icon crafted from bronze by sculptor Ralph Helmick in the years directly following Vaughan’s death in 1990, bears some utterly ridiculous and barely legible writing across Vaughan’s back and was noticed earlier this week by passersby when the paint was much brighter.
MyStatesman reports that the paint has either “faded or been partially removed,” but the damage has been done; fans are livid, and Vaughan’s older brother Jimmie says he’s “speechless”:
https://www.facebook.com/jimmievaughanofficial/photos/pb.108557332501031.-2207520000.1517419368./1695007197189362/?type=3&theater
“We don’t take too kindly to things like this in Texas! Speechless…for now. JV #SRV” reads Jimmie Vaughan’s photo caption, posted to Facebook late last night. Fans in Austin also took the chance to share their anger at the disrespect shown to Vaughan’s statue, posting to Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BenmG0cgTF9/?tagged=srv
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bemu3IhlelQ/?tagged=srv
https://www.instagram.com/p/BemGHAtFrae/?tagged=srv
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bel5QBTAvPK/?tagged=srv
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bel4A_UHDZw/?tagged=srv
Absolutely sickening. Here’s hoping that local authorities catch the vandals that did this, and that it never happens again.