On the night of Monday, April 4, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a video address to the participants and spectators of the Grammy Awards ceremony, calling for support for Ukraine in the war against Russia “in any way.”
“The war. What is more opposite of music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people. Our children draw swooping rockets, not shooting stars. Over 400 children have been injured and 153 children died, and we will never see them drawing. Our parents are happy to wake up in the morning in bomb shelters but alive. Our loved ones don’t know if we will be together again. The war doesn’t let us choose who survives and who stays in eternal silence.”
“Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos. They sing to the wounded in hospitals. Even to those who can’t hear them. But the music will break through anyway. We defend our freedom. To live. To love. To sound. On our land, we are fighting Russia, which brings horrible silence with its bombs. Fill the silence with your music. Fill it out today. Tell our story. Tell the truth about the war on your social networks and TV. But not silence.”
President Zelenskyy just addressed the #GRAMMYs broadcast from Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/VjPSK5tqvR
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) April 4, 2022
After Zelenskyy’s address, American singer John-Roger Stevens, known as John Legend, performed a song dedicated to Ukraine in a duet with Ukrainian singer Mika Newton. They were accompanied by a bandura player from Odessa Suzanna Iglidan, while a poem was read by their compatriot Lyuba Yakimchuk, who recently fled the country.
Freedom @johnlegend Grammy. For the people of Ukraine. Freedom!!!
— Johnathan Ford 🇺🇦 (@BreakingNews175) April 4, 2022
At the end of the track, viewers were given the details of a charity helping Ukrainian refugees.
See also: Lithuania is the first EU country that completely abandoned Russian gas
