Pink Floyd reunited to record its first new song in 28 years to protest against the invasion of Ukraine.
The song “Hey Hey, Rise Up!” features David Gilmour and Nick Mason, with Guy Pratt playing the bass and Nitin Sawhney on the keys, sampling a song from Andriy Khlynyuk, a Ukraine-born singer for the band BoomBox, per The Guardian.
Khlynyuk ended his U.S. tour to return home and defend his home in Kyiv. The singer posted the song “The Red Viburnum” on Instagram, a protest song that was written during World War I.
Gilmour was moved by Khlynyuk’s performance. His daughter-in-law and grandchildren are Ukrainian and he thought the song was a “powerful moment,” per The Hill.
“It was a powerful moment that made me want to put it to music,” he said.
Per BBC News, Gilmour found a video of Khlynyuk’s song on Twitter and said it displayed the ”anger at a superpower invading a peaceful nation.” Now, Pink Floyd has joined Khlynyuk to support his message.
The band said the Ukrainian singer is in the hospital after being hit by shrapnel.
“We, like so many, have been feeling the fury and the frustration of this vile act of an independent, peaceful democratic country being invaded and having its people murdered by one of the world’s major powers,” Gilmour said, per CNN.
“We want to express our support for Ukraine and in that way, show that most of the world thinks that it is totally wrong for a superpower to invade the independent democratic country that Ukraine has become.”