Les Claypool of Primus and Eugene Hütz of Gogol Bordello have collaborated on a tribute song to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky.
The charity track, titled ‘Zelensky: The Man With The Iron Balls,’ also features Stewart Copeland of The Police on drums, Sean Lennon on guitar and vocals, Sergey Ryabtseb of Hütz’s band on violin, and Billy Strings on acoustic guitar. You may listen to it in the player below.
Claypool, Hütz, Copeland, Lennon, Ryabtsev, & Strings – “Zelensky: The Man With the Iron Balls”
“As soon as Russian aggression came out, Les and I connected to address the issue ASAP. We jumped on creating affirmative music that calls for unity and pays respect to the real doers in Ukrainian defense, such as President Zelensky, who demonstrated previously unheard of stamina and heroism.” Hütz, who was born in Ukraine, told Rolling Stone about the music.
The song “is not intended to be a song of condemnation,” but rather one of “union,” according to Claypool.
The track’s revenues will be donated to Nova Ukraine, a non-profit organization that provides humanitarian aid and support to Ukrainians.
“It is our way to show that heavyweights like Les, Stewart, Billy, and Sean stand with the people of Ukraine and the country’s sovereignty from the very start of Russian-led terror,” Hütz added.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized the country’s military to invade Ukraine in full force.
As of April 22, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) had counted 5,121 civilian casualties in the country, with 2,345 killed and 5,264 injured.
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