Pink Floyd Releases First Track Since 1994 In Support Of Ukraine

Pink Floyd, the British rock band, released their first new song since 1994 in support of the people of Ukraine. The track is called “Hey Hey Rise Up”, marking the band’s return since they last recorded “The Division Bell” in the 90s. This song features Ukrainian singer Andriy Khlyvnuk from the rock and pop band Boombox; he had left his tour in the US back in February and returned home to fight in Ukraine. All proceeds from the song will go to Ukrainian Humanitarian Relief, so check it out and join in the support for Ukraine.

The 76-year-old musician David Gilmour, Pink Floyd’s guitarist and vocalist, said, “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. In 2015 I played a show at Koko in London in support of the Belarus Free Theatre, whose members have been imprisoned. Pussy Riot and the Ukrainian band Boombox were also on the bill. They were supposed to do their own set, but their singer Andriy had visa problems, so the rest of the band backed me for my set – we played Wish You Were Here for Andriy that night. Recently I read that Andriy had left his American tour with Boombox, had gone back to Ukraine, and joined up with the Territorial Defence. Then I saw this incredible video on Instagram, where he stands in a square in Kyiv with this beautiful gold-domed church and sings in the silence of a city with no traffic or background noise because of the war. It was a powerful moment that made me want to put it to music.”

David Gilmour continued to explain that he spoke with Andriy Khlyvnuk, who was recovering in hospital. He said, “I played him a little bit of the song down the phone line and he gave me his blessing. We both hope to do something together in person in the future.”

Last month, a message on David Gilmour’s official website said that “to stand with the world in strongly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the works of Pink Floyd, from 1987 onwards, and all of David Gilmour’s solo recordings are being removed from all digital music providers in Russia and Belarus from today”.

He said that he hoped the new song would “receive wide support and publicity”, adding that the group wants to “raise funds for humanitarian charities, and raise morale”.

He finished by saying, “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.”

Check out the song here!