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Hozier makes pro-Palestine plea at Gov Ball to condemn imperialism

Hozier was one of the headliners at the Governors Ball Music Festival on June 8. He took the time to give an impassioned political message about people using their voice to speak out on injustices, to condemn imperialism and to remember that there is still good happening everyday.

Hozier performs during the 2025 Governo at Flushing Meadows Corona Park on June 08, 2025 in New York City.
Hozier performed at the Governors Ball on June 8(Image: Getty Images)

Hozier used his performance at the Governors Ball Music Festival to highlight the political climate with a call to action to reject "imperialism" and to act in solidarity.


The Irish singer headlined the music festival that takes place in New York City annually on Sunday, June 8. Gov Ball was from Friday, June 6, to Sunday, June 8, with a different headliner each day, like Tyler, the Creator and Olivia Rodrigo. Glass Animals was also the other headliner for Sunday, with various other artists performing that day too, such as Clairo, RAYE, Amaarae, and more.

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During Hozier's set, he took a moment, like he's known to do, to speak on social and political issues as well as injustices. But he also put it in his music with songs like Take Me To Church, which critiques homophobia in the church; Cherry Wine is about domestic violence; and Jackboot Jump is another protest song that brings awareness to protests and the crackdowns on said protests (at the time Hong Kong and Black Lives Matter).

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He began by sharing how Mavis Staples and her family (The Staples Sisters) used to sing before speeches during the American Civil Rights Movement here in the 1960s. Hozier has a song with Mavis called Nina Cried Power which is about the legacy of protest music and is in tribute to Nina Simone, who was one of those singers, and others like her.

Hozier performs at the 2025 Governors Ball at Flushing Meadows Corona Park on June 07, 2025 in New York City.
Hozier encouraged people to use their voice in his speech(Image: Getty Images)

Throughout the song, he named other artists who also engaged in protest music such as Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, B.B. King, Joni Mitchell and Curtis Mayfield. He sang the song after giving his spirited speech.


Hozier explained why singing before speeches in the Civil Rights Movement connected to him as an Irishman.

"Why that’s a particular interest to me as an Irishman is that the Civil Rights Movement that happened here in the 1960s directly inspired a Civil Rights Movement that took place very shortly afterwards in Northern Ireland," The All Things End singer said. "Directly inspired it. In a time and place in Northern Ireland where not every single citizen had the right to vote.

"And the reason for that is wrapped up in a complicated legacy that colonialism and imperialism can leave behind. There's a lot of people here, who understand something about that."


This led him to talk about the significance of democratic voice, i.e, the right to vote, which he felt is something that is being taken for granted and is something that can be "easily chipped away at" with the way the world is going. He estimated that 70 percent of all countries in the world are "no longer functioning democracies so the trend is going downwards."

"Over the last year, I've been traveling and I've been asking people to use those democratic voices to speak from a place of empathy, a place of humanity, a place of compassion. Speak out for peace and an immediate, permanent lasting ceasefire over there in the Middle East," Hozier continued.

"Not only that, but peace and safety and security for everybody in that region, which of course means seeing a Palestine that’s free from occupation. And a Palestine free from these cycles of violence," He added.


The 35-year-old offered a bit of hope as he said how things can "seem so dark" with "so much division and so much violence in the world," but he said every day he witnesses "acts of goodness, acts of solidarity." He specified how he saw that solidarity in New York City and how city solidarity, community, and anti-racism that he saw in the Big Apple make it a "very special place."

"Every single day, we have an opportunity to show up for not only members of our community but people around the world. I would advise you to say no to the types of imperialism that lead to cycles of violence that we’re seeing at the moment." Hozier elaborated.

Hozier performs at the 2025 Governors Ball at Flushing Meadows Corona Park on June 07, 2025 in New York City.
Hozier is an artist that publicly speaks out on the issues and injustices affected the world (Image: Getty Images)

"Because the mentality of imperialism that would look at another person's homeland and say that's real estate for my f---ing ruling class, is the same imperialism that would squeeze you dry, squeeze the life out of you," he said.

"We could also reject the forms of imperialism that take place closer to home: weaponized racism that would turn us against our neighbors, members of our community. Weaponized division that would turn us against members of the LGBTQ+ community, would turn us against immigrants. That would turn us against the Jewish community and drive us towards antisemitism. Turn us against our Muslim brothers and sisters and drive towards Islamophobia," Hozier continued.

He concluded his speech by sincerely thanking the audience for allowing him to "speak from the heart in this moment" and for letting him "experience the spirit" of NYC every time he visits. He ended on a note that he encourages others to "speak out in the place of empathy, humanity and solidarity."

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