Toyah and Robert Fripp film bonus cover version in reaction to Russian invasion

Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp in their kitchen
(Image credit: Toyah Willcox/YouTube)

Last than 48 hours after posting their lively cover of The Black Keys' Lonely Boy, Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp have filmed another cover version, and this time they've got their serious faces on.

Giving the video the title Ukraine We Hear You, Fripp and Willcox perform Living Colour's Cult Of Personality, presumably in "tribute" to Russian president Vladimir Putin, who ordered the invasion of Ukraine by Russian Armed Forces on February 24.

There's no nipple tape, no innuendo, no silliness, just a straight performance, as the pair perform in front of a peace and love sign painted in yellow and blue, the colours of the Ukrainian flag. 

"Cult Of Personality was about celebrity, but on a political level,” Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid told Classic Rock in 2009. “It asked what made us follow these individuals who were larger than life yet still human beings.

"Aside from their social importance, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King both looked like matinee idols. That was a strong part of why their messages connected."

Other politicians/statesmen name-checked in the song, which Tom Morello claimed was an inspiration for Rage Against The Machine – were Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin and Mahatma Gandhi.

Elsewhere, Green Day – who were scheduled to play at Moscow's Spartak Stadium in May – have cancelled the show in the wake of the invasion, while a number of musicians have taken to social media to express their dismay at the invasion.

Queen's Brian May summed up the feelings of many when he posted, "It seems unbelievable that the peaceful life of Ukraine could be so senselessly shattered in the 21st century. And it feels unbearable that the world could just watch and let it happen. We are all praying for peace for you, dear friends."

Fraser Lewry

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. 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.