Pink Floyd has decided to remove its entire music catalog — 35 years worth — from digital music services in Russia and Belarus to boycott the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The band tweeted the news Friday, writing: “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.”
According to Bloomberg, Pink Floyd’s co-founder Roger Waters, who left the band in 1985, has also denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin and his decision to invade Ukraine.
In an open letter prompted by a Ukrainian fan, Waters wrote: “I am disgusted by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, 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,” Waters continued. Instead of engaging in the diplomacy that will be necessary to stop the slaughter.”
Before Waters’ statement, came a note from 19-year-old Alina Mitrofanova, who lives in Ukraine and is a big fan of the musician and Pink Floyd.
“It was very important for me to hear Roger’s opinion on this whole situation,” she wrote. “It may not seem as urgent and critical, because this war can be considered as only ‘our problem’, but unfortunately it rapidly becomes a catastrophe for the entire Europe and the world.”
“I ask Roger to speak publicly about this war, because I still cannot understand how a person, who wrote a significant number of anti-war lyrics, hasn’t spoken about tragedy yet,” Mitrofanova continued. “Furthermore, I fully understand that Roger’s point of view may be different, but I ask him to share his own opinion on this war. It’s better than just being silent, because in this situation, silence is one of the worst enemies…”
You can read the full thoughts of both Alina and Roger Waters here.
Pink Floyd joins many other musicians, tech companies and organizations in the fight to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by denying them certain services.
