Pink Floyd Scrub Post-Waters LPs From Services in Russia, Belarus
Pink Floyd are removing the later era of their catalog from digital music services in Russia and Belarus.
"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," the band tweeted Friday.
The three affected Pink Floyd were released after the exit of co-founding bassist Roger Waters: 1987’s A Momentary Lapse of Reason, 1994’s The Division Bell and 2014’s The Endless River.
Gilmour has released four solo records: 1978’s David Gilmour, 1984’s About Face, 2006’s On an Island and 2015’s Rattle That Lock.
Both Gilmour and Waters have spoken out against the invasion. "Russian soldiers, stop killing your brothers," Gilmour tweeted on March 1.
"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."
On March 9, Waters responded to a letter from a 19-year-old fan living in Ukraine who'd asked the songwriter to speak out and "tell the world [his] position." Part of his lengthy response, posted on social media, included the following: "I read your letter, I feel your pain, 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, instead of engaging in the diplomacy that will be necessary to stop the slaughter.
"Rest assured if all our leaders don’t turn down the rhetoric and engage in diplomatic negotiations there will be precious little of Ukraine left when the fighting is over."