{"id":486669,"date":"2019-06-05T08:50:40","date_gmt":"2019-06-05T14:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=842936"},"modified":"2019-06-05T08:50:40","modified_gmt":"2019-06-05T14:50:40","slug":"flashback-pink-floyd-queen-black-sabbath-members-rock-for-armenia-in-1989","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/flashback-pink-floyd-queen-black-sabbath-members-rock-for-armenia-in-1989\/","title":{"rendered":"Flashback: Pink Floyd, Queen, Black Sabbath Members Rock for Armenia in 1989"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When an earthquake decimated parts of Armenia and killing between 25,000 to 50,000 people in 1988, the world was in shock. The USSR earmarked the equivalent of billions of dollars to help rebuild, the U.S. sent medical aid and search dogs, and people from all over Europe came to help. Perhaps the most surprising fundraising effort, though, came from a who\u2019s who of rock and metal legends calling themselves Rock Aid Armenia. The supergroup, which featured Deep Purple<\/a>\u2019s Ritchie Blackmore, Pink Floyd<\/a>\u2019s David Gilmour, Queen<\/a>\u2019s Brian May and Black Sabbath<\/a>\u2019s Tony Iommi<\/a>, among many others, recorded a cover of Deep Purple\u2019s \u201cSmoke on the Water,\u201d which made it into the U.K. Top 40.<\/p>\n

To mark the 30th anniversary of the recording, Iommi and Deep Purple\u2019s Ian Gillan, along with Rock Aid Armenia organizer Jon Dee, are traveling to Yerevan, Armenia. A documentary about the recording of \u201cSmoke on the Water\u201d will be screened, and the country\u2019s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, will be present at the gala. While there, they will also visit the Gyumri Musical School, which was built in 2009 to mark the 20th anniversary of the charity single.<\/p>\n

Footage of the recording of \u201cSmoke on the Water\u201d shows Gilmour arriving, Queen\u2019s Roger Taylor warming up on the drums, Iron Maiden<\/a>\u2019s Bruce Dickinson singing the chorus and Brian May looking a bit bemused. The song kicks in at the 1:30 mark and the video contains clips of the musicians each taking their turns. The singers, in order, include Deep Purple\u2019s Ian Gillan and Dickinson before the guitar solos start. Blackmore takes the first lead, followed by Gilmour and May (in Bermuda shorts!) before Bad Company\u2019s Paul Rodgers takes a turn on the verse. Iommi then does a solo, and gets a thumbs up from Dickinson, leading to a thudding ending. The other musicians on the track include guitarist Alex Lifeson (Rush<\/a>), keyboardists Geoff Downes (Yes) and Keith Emerson, bassist and Chris Squire (Yes).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis kind of thing is great because all of the politics that separate various people and their various things can be thrown out of the window really, and music in general can actually pull together and do something useful,\u201d Rodgers said in a documentary about the film.<\/p>\n