Exclusive: A stellar group of musicians have come together to sign Brian Eno’s new open letter to the government.
The Cure’s Robert Smith, Lola Young, and Massive Attack and members of Radiohead are among a stellar group of musicians who have written to UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urging the UK government to block the development of a controversial oil field.
The open letter, written by Brian Eno, calls on the Prime Minister to block the proposed use of Rosebank – the UK’s largest undeveloped oil and gas field located some 80 miles off the coast of Shetland.
The letter is also signed by the likes of Lola Young, BICEP and Olly Alexander. It asks decision makers to reject the development of the major fossil fuel project, saying giving it the go-ahead would be damaging for people, the planet and the future of music and the arts. Other major signatories outside of music include the Academy Award winning filmmaker Andrea Arnold.
Following a request for comment from Rolling Stone UK, a spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “Our priority is to deliver a fair, orderly and prosperous transition in the North Sea in line with our climate and legal obligations, which drives our clean energy future of energy security, lower bills, and good, long-term jobs.”
The appeal from this collective of leading musicians comes as Equinor – the Norwegian state-owned oil company – reportedly prepares to reapply for permission to develop the site.
Eno’s letter, also supported by artists such as SHERELLE, The Blessed Madonna and Paloma Faith, says permitting the project would be in direct opposition to the promises the UK government have made on people, pollution and climate change.
“Continued oil and gas expansion jeopardises not only our climate, but the cultural spaces where music is made and shared,” it reads. “The scientific evidence that new oil and gas projects are incompatible with a liveable climate is overwhelming.”
The letter says Rosebank would emit more of the planet-heating gas carbon dioxide than the world’s 28 lowest-income countries combined in a single year.
The burning of fossil fuels – such as oil, gas and coal – is increasing the average temperature on Earth. The result is a changing climate where extreme weather like heat and rainfall become more frequent and intense.
Music, like all parts of our societies, is increasingly feeling the effects of this – earlier this year Bonnaroo Festival was cancelled due to severe flooding, and thousands of people in Los Angeles’ music community were among those left devastated by wildfires in January.
Rosebank has long been controversial, the subject of commercial, political and legal arguments for more than two decades.
After years of wrangling the project was given the go-ahead by the UK government, led by the Conservative party, in 2023. The decision was met with significant opposition from campaign groups.
At the beginning of 2025 a Scottish court ruled that the government’s approval of the Rosebank oil field was unlawful, because of the way its potential impact had been calculated. The UK government agreed to restart the approval process, based on fresh conditions.
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