Photo Credit: Marcela Vitoria
Pink Floyd has announced it has removed its music from streaming service providers in Russia and Belarus.
The band issued a statement about the removal on its official Twitter page. “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,” the statement reads.
Former Pink Floyd bass guitarist Roger Waters also posted an open letter on his Facebook page. The letter is in response to a Ukrainian fan who asked the singer-songwriter to speak on the Russian invasion of her country. “Dear Alina, I read your letter, I feel your pain, I am disgusted by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine,” the letter by Waters begins.
“I feel for you Alina, and your Mum and Dad and your uncles and aunts and brothers and sister and cousins, I lost both my father Eric Fletcher Waters and my grandfather George Henry Waters in wars fighting the Germans.”
“I will do anything I can to help effect the end of this awful war in your country, anything that is except wave a flag to encourage the slaughter,” Waters continues. You can read his full open letter to the 19-year-old Ukrainian Alina here.
The included Pink Floyd works that are removed from Russian and Belarusian music streaming platforms are as follows.
- A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987)
- The Division Bell (1994)
- The Endless River (2014)
Last week, David Gilmour tweeted in support of Ukraine, writing, “Russian soldiers, stop killing your brothers. There will be no winners in this war. My daughter-in-law is Ukrainian, and my granddaughters want to visit and know their beautiful country. Stop this before it is all destroyed. Putin must go.”