Zelensky delivers powerful speech at Grammys: ‘Our musicians wear body armour instead of tuxedos’

Ukraine president urged Grammy attendees to ‘fill the silence’ caused by the war with their music

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky made a virtual appearance at the 2022 Grammy Awards, where he urged people to “tell our story”.

The Ukrainian leader appeared in a pre-taped speech amid Russia’s continued invasion of his country. The video was shot 48 hours prior to the event in a bunker in Kyiv, and served as an introduction to John Legend’s live performance.

“The war. What’s more opposite to music. The silence of ruined cities and killed people,” he said in the emotional message.

He continued: “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.

“Our musicians wear body armour 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.”

Zelensky called on the Grammy attendees to “fill the silence” with their music and “tell our story”.

Legend then performed flanked by dancers wearing the colours of the Ukrainian flag, and the flag itself. He was also joined by musicians, singers and poets from Ukraine.

The moment arrived a week after the 2022 Oscars missed the opportunity to include Zelensky, despite co-host Amy Schumer revealing she had suggested the idea to organisers.

Follow live updates from the Grammy Awards here. See the updated list of winners in full here.

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.