Pink Floyd are removing all of their music from 1987 onwards from streaming services in Russia and Belarus to take a stand against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Former lead singer David Gilmour is pulling all of his solo recordings as well.
The Pink Floyd albums being removed include A Momentary Lapse of Reason, the band’s first without founding member Roger Waters, its 1994 follow-up The Division Bell, and 2014’s The Endless River, as well as a handful of live albums and box sets. The group’s timeless classics, Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, will remain available, as well as the trove of 1970s-era live albums that were quietly uploaded to streaming services in late December.
Both Gilmour and Waters have spoken out against Russia on social media. Earlier this month, Gilmour made an impassioned plea to end the war. “Russian soldiers, stop killing your brothers,” he wrote on Twitter. “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.”
Meanwhile, Waters called the invasion “the act of a gangster” in an open letter responding to a Ukrainian fan. “I am disgusted by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine,” he wrote. “It is a criminal mistake in my opinion, the act of a gangster. There must be an immediate ceasefire. I regret that Western governments are fueling the fire that will destroy your beautiful country by pouring arms into Ukraine instead of engaging in the diplomacy that will be necessary to stop the slaughter.”
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. pic.twitter.com/lTV7T3y29u
— Pink Floyd (@pinkfloyd) March 11, 2022
Russian soldiers, stop killing your brothers. There will be no winners in this war.
My daughter-in-law is Ukrainian and my grand-daughters want to visit and know their beautiful country. Stop this before it is all destroyed.
Putin must go pic.twitter.com/VE4oMsUIRf
— David Gilmour (@davidgilmour) March 1, 2022
