David Gilmour and Nick Mason, flanked by Nitin Sawhney and Guy Pratt, who have contributed to the new Pink Floyd recording. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

A couple of weeks ago, Pink Floyd’s guitarist and singer David Gilmour was asked if he’d seen the Instagram feed of Andriy Khlyvnyuk, frontman of Ukrainian rock band BoomBox. Gilmour had performed live with BoomBox in 2015, at a London benefit gig for the Belarus Free Theatre – they played a brief, endearingly raw set of Pink Floyd songs and Gilmour solo tracks – but events had moved on dramatically since then: at the end of Feburary, Khlyvnyuk had abandoned BoomBox’s US tour in order to fight against the Russian invasion.

On his Instagram, Gilmour found a video of the singer in military fatigues, a rifle slung over his shoulder, standing outside Kyiv’s St Sofia Cathedral, belting out an unaccompanied version of Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow, a 1914 protest song written in honour of the Sich Riflemen who fought both in the first world war and the Ukrainian war of independence. “I thought: that is pretty magical and maybe I can do something with this,” says Gilmour. “I’ve got a big platform that [Pink Floyd] have worked on for all these years. It’s a really difficult and frustrating thing to see this extraordinarily crazy, unjust attack by a major power on an independent, peaceful, democratic nation. The frustration of seeing that and thinking ‘what the fuck can I do?’ is sort of unbearable.”

The result is Hey Hey, Rise Up!, a new single by Pink Floyd that samples Khlyvnyuk’s performance, to be released at midnight on Friday with proceeds going to Ukrainian humanitarian relief.

Most observers assumed Pink Floyd were long defunct. They last released original new music 28 years ago, although in 2014 Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason reconvened to turn outtakes from their 1994 album The Division Bell into the largely instrumental The Endless River, as a tribute to the band’s late keyboard player Rick Wright. At the time, Gilmour was insistent that was the finale for a band that began in 1965 and sold more than 250m albums. Pink Floyd couldn’t tour without Wright, who died of cancer in 2008, and there was to be no more music: “It’s a shame,” he told the BBC, “but this is the end.”

This is an excerpt of an exclusive article posted by The Guardian – CLICK HERE to read the entire article

Rockonteurs is a podcast all about the real stories behind real music.

Presented by Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets /  Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp, who wrote and performed megahits like ‘Gold’ and ‘True’, and Guy Pratt, a bass player who shaped songs for the likes of Madonna and Pink Floyd & David Gilmour, you’ll hear exclusive stories of life on the road, in the studio and what really happened behind the scenes from artists who wrote, performed and produced the some of the biggest classic rock and pop tracks of all time.

Rockonteurs is a podcast all about the real stories behind real music.

This weeks upcoming episode is Number 78 and features guest Rick Astley

Available from 3rd April 2022 on Itunes, Spotify and all other Listening Platforms. Click Here to be taken to Apple Musics Listening Page

Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason recently joined among many rockstars who pay tribute to the talented Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins who passed away in Columbia. Mason stated how sad it is to lose another fantastic drummer in his new Twitter post.

The world was shocked to hear about the sudden death of Taylor Hawkins recently in Columbia, where he went with his band to perform for their fans. Hawkins’ certain cause of death is still not officially determined, but the authorities believe the drummer was under the influence of a cocktail of drugs, and his heart couldn’t take it.

According to the Columbian authorities, an emergency call from his hotel was made after Hawkins contacted the front desk to ask for help because he was having chest pain. Although the death doesn’t seem like an overdose but rather a heart attack, the investigation around the drugs found in his room continues.

His death was sudden and surprising, primarily because the musician was very young and looking healthy on the road with his band. The entire rock and roll world is dressed in grief and pays their tributes, sharing their memories with the loved drummer. Most recently, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason shared his tribute on his Twitter account.

He expressed how sad it was to lose another drummer and revealed that Hawkins would send him his mixes and versions of Pink Floyd songs. Mason still ‘treasures’ those records he left behind for him and wishes ‘condolences’ to his bandmates Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, Rami Jaffee, and his family.

Here is what Mason said about Hawkins’ passing:

“Nick Mason pays tribute to Taylor Hawkins: So sad to lose another wonderful drummer. I still treasure some mixes that he sent me of his own interpretation of some Pink Floyd songs. Condolences to the band and his family.”

pic.twitter.com/cD95B4yndD

— Nick Mason (@nickmasondrums) March 28, 2022

On the 11th March 2012, 10 years ago at London’s Hammersmith Apollo, entertainers of all kinds gathered to pay tribute to and celebrate the life of science fiction writer Douglas Adams, who would have been 60 yesterday. One of the night’s big surprises was an appearance by legendary Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.

Gilmour performed three songs: “Wish You Were Here,” “Too Much Monkey Business,” and “A Whiter Shade of Pale.”
“Wish You Were Here” was Gilmour’s only vocal performance of the evening.

To celebrate what would have been Douglas’s 70th birthday, the family and all those involved have decided to release footage of the finale performance from that very night.

Douglas Adams was an extremely prolific science fiction writer who is perhaps best known for his 1979 novel, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Rockonteurs is a podcast all about the real stories behind real music.

Presented by Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets /  Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp, who wrote and performed megahits like ‘Gold’ and ‘True’, and Guy Pratt, a bass player who shaped songs for the likes of Madonna and Pink Floyd & David Gilmour, you’ll hear exclusive stories of life on the road, in the studio and what really happened behind the scenes from artists who wrote, performed and produced the some of the biggest classic rock and pop tracks of all time.

Rockonteurs is a podcast all about the real stories behind real music.

This weeks upcoming episode is Number 77 and features guest Mike Campbell

Available from 27th March 2022 on Itunes, Spotify and all other Listening Platforms. Click Here to be taken to Apple Musics Listening Page