Simmons Unites Anti-War Stars

Russell Simmons, Lou Reed and David Byrne were among the artists on hand in New York yesterday to announce the formation of Musicians United to Win Without War, an industry-wide peace alliance. Jay-Z, Missy Elliott, Sheryl Crow, Dave Matthews, Outkast, Busta Rhymes, Roseanne Cash and Tweet are among the other members of the group, which will use its public platform to support weapons inspections, as opposed to invasion and occupation, as a means to resolve the conflict with Iraq.

The group took out several ads in the country's major newspapers this week. Members will also work in conjunction with social organizations like the Sierra Club, the NAACP and NOW, as well as the film-industry analog, Artists United to Win Without War, to enhance public awareness of the complex issues that make up the conflict.

Along with the rapper Mos Def, Simmons, head of Def Jam and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, has also recorded two thirty-second TV spots attacking the Bush administration's policies in the Middle East.

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Song Stories

“Is It True”

Brenda Lee | 1964

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."

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