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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave a touching Grammys speech about the power of music – urging American artists to use their talents to “tell the truth about” Russia’s war on his country.
“Fill the silence with your music!” Zelensky said in a video address before introducing Ukrainian singer Mika Newton — whose sister is fighting the Russian army — and refugee poet Lyuba Yakimchuk for a performance with John Legend on the sobering song “Free.”
“Fill it today to tell our story. Tell the truth about this war on your social networks, on TV. Support us in any way you can. Any — but not silence. And then peace will come,” he said to cheers from the audience.
Zelensky, in his iconic green tee, said music can end the silence imposed by the terrors of war.
“To all our cities the war is destroying — Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Volnovakhna, Mariupol and others — they are legends already. But I have a dream of them living. And free. Free like you on the Grammy stage.”
Zelensky also painted a picture of the dramatically different lives of Ukrainian musicians who’ve answered their country’s call to arms as opposed to those in attendance at the ritzy awards ceremony in Las Vegas.
“Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos,” he said. “They sing to the wounded in hospitals. Even to those who can’t hear them. But the music will break through anyway.”
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