Grammy Awards 2022: Ukraine President Zelenskyy seeks support in surprise speech, calls ‘war opposite to music’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise appearance at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night. The Ukrainian President had previously requested a chance to speak at the 94th Academy Awards last month but was not seen during the award show. However, he got a chance to speak at the Grammys, where he requested people to extend support to Ukraine. Also Read| Grammy Awards 2022 highlights: India’s Falguni Shah, Pakistan’s Arooj Aftab lift first trophies; BTS lose to Doja Cat

A pre-recorded speech of Volodymyr was played at the award show just before John Legend dedicated a performance to the people of Ukraine as they face the Russian invasion. In the speech, Volodymyr referred to the war as the opposite of music as he pleaded for support for Ukraine.

He said, “The war. What’s more opposite to 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.”

Volodymyr’s speech was followed by a performance by John Legend on a new song Free, for which he was joined by some Ukrainian performers. The performance included Denver-based Siuzanna Iglidan, who is originally from Odessa in Ukraine, and Ukrainian singer and actor Mika Newton, whose sister is serving in the Ukrainian army. Poet Lyuba Yakimchuk, who reportedly left Ukraine just days prior to the war, was also a part of the performance.

The Ukrainian President spoke about the musicians of his country in his speech, and said, “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 — the dead silence. Fill the silence with your music. Fill it today to tell our story.”

He added, “Tell the truth about this war on your social networks, on TV. Support us in any way you can. Any — but not silence. Then peace will come to all our cities the war is destroying — Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Volnovakha, Mariupol and others. They are legends already, but I have a dream of them living — and free, like you on the Grammy stage.”

After his speech and the subsequent performance led by John Legend, an appeal was made by Grammys to donate to Global Citizen’s relief effort at ForUkraine.com.