Western Musicians and Russia
Some of them are still doing business with Russians despite the ongoing war in Ukraine
If you’re relatively new to the issues related to Kremlin propaganda and how it’s affecting other countries (including the United States), I recommend reading some background posts I wrote that explains things in more detail along with links to other sites where you can read more to educate yourself.
Ever since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 many of the music world's biggest stars have indicated their support for Ukraine. Some express their support in interviews. Others, such as Madonna, wear Ukrainian-made clothes and hold Ukrainian flags on stage. Some of them have even engaged in fundraising activities on behalf of Ukraine, such as Paul McCartney auctioning a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar painted in the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag where the proceeds went towards humanitarian relief efforts in that war-torn country.
Then there's Christina Aguilera. I'm old enough when the music industry tried to promote a rivalry between her and her fellow Mickey Mouse Club costar Britney Spears that was similar to an earlier rivalry between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. While I think that Britney is talented as a dancer and performer, Christina has a much stronger singing voice. My all-time favorite Christina Aguilera song is “Beautiful,” whose lyrics promote the upbeat positive idea that everyone is beautiful regardless of race, body type, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, etc.
Late last year she received praise from this Ukrainian account for wearing dresses from the Ukrainian brand LEVER COUTURE in her promo video for her New Year's concerts in Las Vegas on December 30 and 31.
That was then, this is now. This week United24 had posted this video on Twitter/X showing Christina Aguilera performing at a private birthday party for the girlfriend of a rich man at his estate in Morocco.
On the surface that doesn't sound unusual. It has long been an open secret that some of the biggest names in music will sometimes take gigs in places that are more exclusive than a typical nightclub, concert hall, or sports stadium. They will perform gigs at corporate receptions, corporate retreats, and private parties hosted in some rich person's home. The main reason why they take these gigs is because they get paid very well for doing them while performing for a much smaller crowd than a typical sold-out performance at a concert hall.
The problem with Christina Aguilera is that the birthday party was for Kristina Romanova, the girlfriend of the Russian oligarch Vladislav Doronin, that was held at his Moroccan estate. Here's a short video clip from that performance.
Aguilera wasn't the only performer at Romanova's birthday party in Morocco. United 24 also posted this video showing an excerpt of a performance by Raye.
What is really controversial about Christina Aguilera and Raye is not that they performed in a rich man's home but who is that rich man they performed for. Vladislav Doronin is a Russian oligarch. While he may not have personally been involved in the invasion of Ukraine, he is closely connected with Vladimir Putin. As I wrote previously, you can only be a Russian oligarch with the blessing of Vladimir Putin. As long as you are in Putin's good graces, you can remain a Russian oligarch who purchases homes outside of Russia and send your children to top Western schools. Should you ever fall out of favor with Putin for whatever reason, you will suddenly find yourself dead under mysterious circumstances.
Christina Aguilera and Raye aren’t the only ones who are being called out online for their questionable association with Russians. Today Adele is being called out for wearing a recently purchased dress that is from the Russian brand Yudashkin. She didn’t just violate the boycott of purchasing goods made in Russia but Yudashkin is the same Russian fashion brand that has designed uniforms that the Russian army is currently wearing. Basically Yudashkin is the Hugo Boss of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Like Christina Aguilera and Raye, Adele definitely has some explaining to do about her choice of clothes. At least none of them have come out as supporters of Vladimir Putin as of this writing.
There is one famous musician that I know of who has. Former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters. It has long been an open secret that Roger Waters has been an antiwar leftist. Much of his politics stemmed from the fact that, when he was five months old, he lost his father during the Battle of Anzio. Growing up without a father had influenced much of Waters’ life, especially in his music. The earliest mention of his loss was in this early Pink Floyd song called “Free Four,” which included these lyrics:
But you are the angel of death
And I am the dead man's son
He was buried like a mole in a fox-hole
And everyone's still on the run
Years later he would more directly mention the loss of his father in the song “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1),” which came from Pink Floyd’s classic album The Wall.
In the years since The Wall was released Roger Waters has embarked on a solo career, although his last few tours were more focused on the music he did when he was in Pink Floyd. When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine back in 2022 Waters was in the middle of his latest tour, This is Not a Drill. Each concert on his tour began with this brief announcement that includes this warning: “If you’re one of those ‘I love Pink Floyd, but I can’t stand Roger’s politics’ people you might do well to fuck off to the bar right now.”
Each show was full of politics (where he blamed both Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy for starting the war instead of the person who really ordered the invasion—Vladimir Putin) mixed with a collection of Waters’ best-known songs.
But he didn’t just limit his political opinion to his concerts. He posted an open letter to Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska asking her to prevail on her husband to stop the war. Zelenska responded by tweeting “It is Russia which invaded Ukraine, destroys cities and kills civilians. Ukrainians defend their land and their children’s future. If we give up—we will not exist tomorrow. If Russia gives up—war will be over. rogerwaters, you’d better ask RF’s President for peace. Not Ukraine.”
Olena Zelenska’s response resulted in Roger Waters writing an even longer open letter to her and posting it on Facebook. That letter went on tangents and could’ve used a lot of editing.
But that wasn’t all. When Hamas conducted its terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Waters used that occasion to constantly remind people that he has long supported the controversial BDS movement against Israel. He also make videos like this one as well.
This is why Pink Floyd lyricist, Polly Samson, who is married to Waters’ former Pink Floyd bandmate David Gilmour, made this tweet where she said “Sadly rogerwaters you are antisemitic to your rotten core. Also a Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac. Enough of your nonsense.” Gilmour later retweeted Samson’s tweet while adding, “Every word demonstrably true.”
Waters’ reputation was further tarnished when the YouTube channel Campaign Against Antisemitism put out this video called The Dark Side of Roger Waters, which includes interviews from people who have actually worked with Waters who said that they witnessed him making antisemitic comments. That video soon went viral.
That video led to another video where Sharon Osbourne, the wife of Ozzy Osbourne, has said that Waters have long made Jewish jokes.
He spoke before the United Nations at the invitation of Russia where he urged peace but claimed that Russia was “provoked” into invading Ukraine. He was also interviewed on Russian television where the interviewer, Olga Skabeyeva suggested that he moved to Russia. I have to admit that this is one of the few times where I actually agree with Russian media—Roger Waters should move to Russia if he likes Putin so much.
It’s no wonder that Roger Waters has been listed on the Vatnik Soup website with even more information about him and his antics in recent years.
I’ve heard about people saying that they no longer listen to Pink Floyd because of Roger Waters’ controversial political opinions. I can understand that sentiment but the problem is that the rest of Pink Floyd do not share Waters’ opinions at all. In fact, David Gilmour and Nick Mason decided to re-form Pink Floyd with a few other musicians in 2022 for a special single where the proceeds from the sale of the record would be given to humanitarian groups in Ukraine.
Just remember that the vast majority of musicians are siding with Ukraine in this ongoing conflict and many of them aren’t doing business with Russia at all.
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