Primus vocalist/bassist Les Claypool has teamed with Gogol Bordello vocalist/guitarist, etc. Eugene Hütz and more on a new song dedicated to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. The song was spurred by Russia‘s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the country Hütz‘s family originally hails from. Several other notable musicians also took part in this new track, which has been dubbed “Zelensky: The Man With The Iron Balls“.
Among them are Claypool‘s Oysterhead bandmate Stewart Copeland (formerly of The Police) and Sean Lennon, who performs with Claypool in The Claypool Lennon Delirium. Also featured are Hütz‘s Gogol Bordello bandmate Sergey Ryabtsev, while bluegrass guitarist Billy Strings also appears.
Hütz told Rolling Stone of the track:
“As soon as Russian aggression broke out, Les and I connected to address the catastrophe 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.”
According to Claypool, the song is not “a song of condemnation.” He elaborated further on that:
“We now have a recording to help rally support for a bullied country, and a David versus Goliath-type man who stood up for their liberty, freedom, and homeland… [We’re] giving praise to a man who stepped up for his people beyond anything I’ve seen in my tenure on this planet. This unlikely fellow has grabbed the reins of leadership and held fast in such a way that the world is now galvanized in support.”
All proceeds generated from the track will go towards Nova Ukraine, with the aforementioned musicians encouraging donations to be made to the non-profit.
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