Pink Floyd has revealed that their charity single “Hey Hey Rise Up” has raised more than $600,000 (£500,000) for humanitarian efforts amid the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war.
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The iconic rockers released the single in April, marking their first song in nearly three decades. Frontman David Gilmour – who has Ukrainian family himself – said the track was put together quickly as the group wanted to show their support for those fighting against Russia.
The single was first released on streaming platforms but ultimately received a wider physical release, including CD and vinyl editions. Profits from all formats contributed to the charity fundraising. Most of the $600,000 was earned through sales and streaming but, Gilmour and fellow Pink Floyd bandmate Nick Mason contributed a portion of the funds.
The money will go to five humanitarian charities: Hospitallers, The Kharkiv And Przemyśl Project, Vostok SOS, Kyiv Volunteer and Livyj Bereh.
The band shared links to the charities alongside a page of additional resources. “Let’s see what else we can do this winter… It would be great if you feel able to contribute to any of these charities directly,” they wrote.
“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 in a press statement at the time of the song’s release.
He further explained his ambitions for the song. “I hope it will receive wide support and publicity,” he added. “We want to raise funds for humanitarian charities and raise morale. 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.”
The single is not the only Ukraine-centric headline members of Pink Floyd have inspired in the last year. Former bandleader Roger Waters recently underwent an interview with CNN, where he insinuated that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was at least partially at fault for the war’s outbreak.
Courtesy Fran DeFeo PR
