Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh and bass player Timothy B. Schmit have hooked up with former Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum, plus country singer Blake Shelton, to record a version of Tom Petty's Won't Back Down with a group of girls who've escaped Taliban rule in Afghanistan and are currently living as refugees in Pakistan.
The girls are beneficiaries of the work of The Miraculous Love Kids, a nonprofit organisation set up by former Giuffria, House of Lords and Magdallan guitarist Lanny Cordola. Cordola first visited Afghanistan in the wake of the 2012 terrorist attacks in Kabul, when multiple embassies were attacked by Taliban suicide bombers, and returned months later to open a guitar school for street children in the city.
"The plan is to make this an entity where they can travel the world, play music, tell the story about their lives and the people of Afghanistan," Cordola told The BBC in 2016. "And then to collaborate with other girls with similar backgrounds, with kids from different parts of the world and turn it into an international, global phenomenon."
"In I Won't Back Down, Tom Petty so powerfully wrote, 'You can stand me up at the gates of hell, but I won't back down.'", says Cordola. "The girls and I are honoured to have Blake, Joe, Timothy and Matt join us in spreading this message far and wide."
"May music always bring you girls the inspiration and connection to a higher power that delivers you strength and joy," says Walsh. "I'm grateful to have shared this moment with you all. Peace and love."
"Lanny is a saint for being a part of these girls' lives by helping them move forward through music," adds Schmit. "Even after all they've experienced in their young lives, you can see and feel their beautiful life forces shining through."
