Skip to main content
April Clare Welsh
16 August 2023, 13:52

Portishead’s Beth Gibbons covers Joy Division and David Bowie with Afghan girl band: Watch

The video marks two years since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan on 15th August 2021

Beth Gibbons singing on stage
Image via Facebook

Portishead’s Beth Gibbons has covered Joy Division and David Bowie with the Afghan girl band the Miraculous Love Kids. You can listen to the cover below.

The acoustic remake fuses the two classic tracks and features a video of both the Miraculous Love Kids — who fled Afghanistan for Islamabad, Pakistan and formed the group with US activist and musician Lanny Cordola — and Beth Gibbons' performances.

The video marks two years since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan on 15th August 2021. "One of the first deeds the Taliban enacted after taking control was to ban girls from attending school and then to outlaw music," they said. "We will defy this wicked ban and break this outlandish law on behalf of all girls, women and good souls of Afghanistan." 

You can find out more about the Miraculous Love Kids and make a donation here.

Last May, Portishead aka Beth Gibbons, Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley, reunited to play their first show in seven years as part of War Child benefit concert Help! at Bristol's O2 Academy, in aid of Ukraine.