Devo to Donate Song Revenue to Ukraine

Devo, the New Wave music group known for hits like “Whip It,” said they will donate their licensing revenue from their song catalog for the entire month of April, along with personal monetary contributions, to organizations that are helping support the Ukrainian people and refugees.

The money will be earmarked for Music Saves UA and World Central Kitchen. Devo is inviting other musicians to join him in this effort.

“Vladimir Putin’s rape of a sovereign nation, Ukraine, whose citizens are committed to democratic rule of law should not and cannot stand in the 21st Century,” said Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale of Devo. Devo will donate the proceeds from our song catalog licenses to help victims of Putin’s unprovoked military conflict throughout April. We invite our rights-holder partners in masters, publishing and other matters to join us in doing so. We encourage all recording artists to do the same to help this gesture reach critical mass .”

Music Saves UA was a non-profit fundraising project that was established to provide immediate humanitarian assistance, including food and water, to those most in need right now in Ukraine.

” The entire team at Music Saves UA are incredibly grateful to all the donations and constant support from the music and culture worlds,” Vlad Yaremchuk, a representative of Music Save UA, said. “Our incredible team and dozens of volunteers who joined our cause are working 24/7 to provide supplies and aid via our humanitarian HQ in Kyiv. Every penny we receive is used immediately, especially as our humanitarian HQ in Kyiv works to establish new centers at the Moldovian or Romanian borders to provide aid to those fleeing. Every act of support we receive is priceless and we are grateful .”

World Central Kitchen, which was founded by Chef Jose Andres in 2010, is a nonprofit organization that “provides fresh meals in response to crises while working to build resilient food systems with locally led solutions.” In response to the Ukraine invasion, WCK is providing meals not only in Ukraine but also in Poland, Romania, Moldova and Hungary at border crossings, shelters and other locations.

Devo, whose other hits have included “Beautiful World” and “That’s Good,” has made it a priority to support political and social causes in addition to “using music and performance art as commentary on conformity, emotional repression and dehumanization.”

This article originally appeared in THR.com.

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