Julian Lennon performs a first-ever rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine” during a Ukraine benefit.
During a charity for Ukrainian migrants on Saturday, Julian Lennon broke a long-standing promise not to perform his father’s most renowned solo song, “Imagine.”
On YouTube, Lennon, 59, stated, “Today, for the first time ever, I publicly sang my Dad’s song, ‘Imagine.'” “The song symbolizes the hope for a light at the end of the darkness that we all share.”
As part of the Stand Up For Ukraine campaign, a global fund-raising effort televised from Warsaw, Poland, the singer-songwriter son of Beatle John Lennon performed a cover rendition of his father’s anthem to peace.
“I’d always stated that the only time I’d consider singing ‘Imagine’ would be if it were the ‘End of the World,'” Lennon wrote.
But, as he put it, “the War on Ukraine is an unspeakable catastrophe.” “I felt driven to answer in the most significant way I could as a human and as an artist.”
Julian Lennon is a musician who was a member of the Beatles
Julian Lennon played his father John Lennon’s song “Imagine” during a benefit for Ukraine.
Because the Ukraine War is an “unimaginable catastrophe,” Lennon stated he broke his promise to never play the song again.
The melancholy video clip featured Lennon singing, surrounded by candles and accompanied by acoustic guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, in cadences uncannily similar to his father’s.
The concert came at the end of a broadcast European Union pledge drive that garnered $10.1 billion in public, private, and corporate funds for refugee relief.
Lennon isn’t the only musician to gain notoriety for performing music in favor of Ukraine.
Pink Floyd – sans Roger Waters – released “Hey Hey Rise Up,” its first original music in 28 years, for the United Nations’ Ukraine Humanitarian Fund at midnight on Friday.
David Gilmour, a guitarist, and singer told the Guardian that Ukrainian musician Andriy Khlyvnyuk, who quit his band BoomBox’s US tour to fight in Ukraine, inspired him.
Gilmour was moved to act after seeing an Instagram video of a musician dressed in military uniform singing a protest song in Kyiv’s Sofiyskaya Square.
“I thought, ‘That’s fairly fantastic,’ and I thought, ‘Maybe I can do something with this,'” Gilmour explained. “I’ve got a tremendous platform that [Pink Floyd] has been working on for a long time.” Seeing this insane, unjust onslaught by a big power on an independent, peaceful, democratic nation is extremely tough and infuriating.