Rocking for the Environment

by Daniel Schreiber

August 31, 2012

Legendary rock guitarist Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead, plays a benefit concert for Greenpeace on Pier 31 in San Francisco in front of the Greenpeace ship James Bay.

© Greenpeace

Thom Yorke, lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the rock band Radiohead on the Rainbow Warrior during her voyage to London.

While browsing the Greenpeace photo archive today marveling at the organizations rich history, I came across a few photos that I think you will dig.

For those of you unaware of our history, it all started when the US government decided to start testing nuclear weapons on an island called Amchitka off the coast of Alaska.The Quakers, pacifists, ecologists, journalists and hippies who were against dangerous nuclear testing came together and decided to do something about it. But what?

Then Greenpeace founder, Bob Hunter had this brilliant idea

Why not sail a boat up there and confront the bomb?”

And the rest is history.

From then on the Greenpeace movement continued to send shockwaves through the entire world for decades. So much so, that popular musicians at the time who were down with the cause decided to chip in and do their part to save the environment.

Bob Hunter addresses the crowd at the Greenpeace send-off event, Jericho Beach. 05/01/1976

Country Joe MacDonald plays the crowd at the Greenpeace send-off, Jericho Beach, Vancouver BC. 05/01/1976

Legendary rock guitarist Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead, plays a benefit concert for Greenpeace on Pier 31 in San Francisco in front of the Greenpeace ship James Bay. 08/19/1977

Irish rock band U2 protesting at Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in Cumbria with Greenpeace against the new THORP plant due to open in 1992. U2 arrived at Sellafield on the SOLO after playing at a 'Stop Sellafield' concert in Manchester. 06/20/1992

Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox as the Eurythmics performing on board the Greenpeace flagship "Rainbow Warrior" on the River Thames in London. 07/05/1999

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