Piero Pelù wins the Amnesty International Award for human rights with "S.O.S"

It is the track "S.O.S," written and performed by Piero Pelù, that wins the 24th Amnesty International Italy Award in the Big section. The award is promoted by Amnesty International Italia, together with the Voci per la Libertà association, to honor the best song about human rights released by a leading Italian music artist or group in the previous year. It's a way of shining a light on artists and songs that can raise awareness of human rights issues through the universal language of music.
"'S.O.S' urges us to talk about the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip in the present tense, because Palestinian children, those still alive, keep being fed bread and violence, more of the latter than the former. From this song, at once poetic and powerful, raw and evocative, rises the need for a future, for that right to happiness which is and will remain the only condition under which hatred can be kept at bay," said Riccardo Noury, spokesperson for Amnesty International Italy.
Listen to "S.O.S" by Piero Pelù below.

The song, written, recorded and made available for free within a few hours in October 2025 by Pelù himself, springs from the urgent need to give voice, through music, to what is happening in the occupied Palestinian territories, and from the necessity of not remaining indifferent in the face of the suffering of civilians, of children, in the Gaza Strip. It's a call to defend peace and justice.
"I wrote SOS last October, a song that came straight from the heart and speaks of the genocides taking place all over the world (and in particular the Palestinian one) and of the fundamental role played by NGO rescue workers in war zones (in particular Médecins Sans Frontières and the Global Sumud Flotilla, for their role in generating media attention on Gaza)," said Piero Pelù, who also explained his decision not to release the track on streaming platforms: "I decided to make it available as a free download on my website because I didn't want to use platforms involved with weapons and dictators' propaganda. Thank you, Amnesty International, for this important recognition, made even more valuable by your constant and precise work in defending human rights, which are increasingly trampled on today by the barbarity of certain multinationals, lobbies and states," Pelù said as soon as he learned he had won the award. The Italian rocker then issued an appeal to all Italians: "The sociopolitical period we're living through is so complex and dangerous that only through the joint commitment of each of us, in our own respective fields, can we hope to remain a planet still fit for women and men who grow up practicing the absolute value of peace."

The Award is tied to the 29^th edition of the “Voci per la Libertà – Una canzone per Amnesty” festival, which brings together music, art and human rights, and which will be held in Rovigo from 24 to 26 July.
Due to a scheduling clash with Litfiba's summer tour, the award will not be presented during the festival as is traditional, but on 16 July at Rock in Roma, during the band's own concert.
Alongside Pelù, the award was also contended by Bambole di Pezza (with “Senza permesso”), Baustelle (“Canzone verde, amore tossico”), Diodato (“Non ci credo più”), Ginevra (“Femina”), Ibla (“Rituale”), Fiorella Mannoia (“Eroi”), Murubutu (“Minuscola”), La Niña (“Figlia d’ ’a tempesta”) and Willie Peyote (“Grazie ma no grazie”). A cross-generational, cross-genre group of artists, united by hard-hitting lyrics ranging from the environmental crisis to the condition of women, and on to solidarity, migration and resistance.

The award is given by a jury made up of journalists, radio and TV hosts, intellectuals, linguists, and representatives of Amnesty International Italy and Voci per la Libertà.
Previous winners include: "Il mio nemico" by Daniele Silvestri (2003); "Pane e coraggio" by Ivano Fossati (2004); "Ebano" by Modena City Ramblers (2005); "Rwanda" by Paola Turci (2006); "Occhiali Rotti" by Samuele Bersani (2007); "Canenero" by Subsonica (2008); "Lettere di soldati" by Vinicio Capossela (2009); "Mio zio" by Carmen Consoli (2010); "Genova Brucia" by Simone Cristicchi (2011); "Non è un film" by Frankie Hi-Nrg MC and Fiorella Mannoia (2012); "Gerardo nuvola 'e Povere" by Enzo Avitabile and Francesco Guccini (2013); "Atto di forza" by Francesco and Max Gazzè (2014); "Scendi giù" by Alessandro Mannarino (2015); "Pronti a salpare" by Edoardo Bennato (2016); "Ballata triste" by Nada (2017); "L'uomo nero" by Brunori Sas (2018); "Salvagente" by Roy Paci & Aretuska feat. Willie Peyote (2019); "Io sono l'altro" by Niccolò Fabi (2020); "Dalle mie parti" by Negramaro (2021); Carmen Consoli again with "L'uomo nero" (2022); "Severodonetsk" by Manuel Agnelli (2023), "La mia terra" by Diodato (2024) and "Onda alta" by Dargen D'Amico (2025).

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