'I can't even believe we did it': Western pop stars feel 'gross' after gigs performing for Russian oligarchs

On Monday, writing for Rolling Stone, David Browne and Adam Rawnsley reported on how western musicians who have long booked special events to perform for the benefit of Russian oligarchs feel "f**king gross" about the arrangement in the wake of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine.

One key quote came from Tommy Stinson, who did a performance with Guns N' Roses for a Russian energy company in Moscow in 2010.

“I can’t even believe we did it,” said Stinson. “It was like, ‘What the f*ck are we doing here?’”

"For several decades, pop, rock, and now hip-hop acts have secretly pocketed hefty sums playing corporate and private parties in the States," said the report. "Since at least the 2000s, a similar circuit has existed in Russia (or on overseas property owned by Russian businessmen). Dangling paychecks as much as seven figures, these Russian tycoons hired major acts — not only GN’R but Elton John, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Killers, Jennifer Lopez, Sting, Prince, Robbie Williams, and Amy Winehouse — for their weddings, corporate events, and galas."

"Even after Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014, these secretive performances didn’t let up," noted the report. "In 2016, Sting and Lopez played separate sets at the Moscow wedding of Said Gutseriev, the son of sanctioned Russian billionaire oilman Mikhail Gutseriev. That wedding, which cost a reported roughly a billion dollars to put on, included a 12-feet-high wedding cake and a ballroom ceiling covered in flowers; as parting gifts, guests were given jewelry-encrusted boxes. During her set, Lopez half-joked that 'the hardest thing I had to do today' was learn how to pronounce the names of the bride and groom."

The Ukraine invasion, complete with brutal war crimes, has finally caused many of these artists to rethink these events, and see the money as "tainted."

All of this comes amid an unprecedented embargo against Russia, with sanctions targeting virtually all of their industries that are causing a massive economic collapse within the country, despite Vladimir Putin's efforts to prop up the ruble. Many European Union countries are pushing for a full ban on Russian oil imports, which would escalate the containment further, although these efforts are currently at a standstill amid internal disputes.

You can read more here.