David Gilmour urges Russian soldiers to "stop killing your brothers"

Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour has expressed his dismay at the ongoing Russian army invasion of Ukraine.

Posting across his social media accounts, Gilmour wrote, "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."

The post was accompanied by a lyric video for Gilmour's anti-war song In Any Tongue, which originally appeared on 2016's Rattle That Lock album and features lyrics written by the guitarist's wife, the novelist Polly Sampson.

"It's about the futility of it all with part of it people who are sitting here in the UK or the States flying drones over other parts of the world," Gilmour told The Sun in 2016. "They're sitting in the comfort of a little control room, playing with a joystick and then going home and having a curry."

"I can't imagine what goes through their minds when they get home, whether they're convinced of the correctness of what they're doing or whether they have some regrets. They're brilliant words by Polly. The pain, the sorrow, the regrets are everywhere for everyone on every side of this multi-sided coin."

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Meanwhile, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds have cancelled their upcoming shows in Ukraine and Russia. The group had been booked to perform at Moscow’s Bol Festival and at the Palace of Sports in Kyiv.

"Our thoughts and love go out to the brave people of Ukraine, their heroic leader, and all those suffering from this senseless war," the group tweeted. "Ukraine, we stand with you, and with all those in Russia who oppose this brutal act, and we pray that this madness is brought to a close soon."

The Bad Seeds join Green Day – who cancelled their show at Moscow's Spartak Stadium earlier this week – Iggy Pop, Franz Ferdinand and others in cancelling shows in the wake of the invasion.

A host of international metal and rock bands have spoken out against Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Artists

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.