Pipes across the ocean as Red Hot
Chilli Pipers honour ‘The Fallen 343’ of September 11th with charity single
In a moving tribute to commemorate
September 11th and the firefighters who lost their lives that day,
The Red Hot Chilli Pipers have collaborated with bagpipers from The Fire
Department of New York to record a specially composed charity single, ‘343 The
Fallen.’
Red Hot Chilli Piper and recently
retired Scottish fireman Willie Armstrong teamed up with friend and Fire
Department of New York Pipe Major Jimmy Lee to record the track, written by
renowned bagpipe composer Roddy “R.S.” MacDonald.
The video and track, released this week and already
hurtling up the music charts, mark the 15th anniversary of September
11th when almost 3000 people were killed in four coordinated
terrorist attacks, the main one being on New York’s World Trade Center. In
total, 343
Willie and Jimmy have been firm
friends since Jimmy invited The Red Hot Chilli Pipers to play a fundraising
concert in 2007 in
When Willie heard the tune ‘The
Fallen’, written to honour the fallen FDNY firefighters, he was so moved he
knew he had to do something special with it.
Willie gathered a few of his
fellow Red Hot Chilli Pipers and, along with Jimmy and bagpipers from
Proceeds from the single, available on iTunes, will be split between the
Scottish Fire and Rescue Family Support Trust and The FDNY Pipes and Drums. The
single will be formally launched this evening, September 8th, at the
Scottish Fire and Rescue Training Centre in Cambuslang, Glasgow, where the
video was partly shot.
Willie said: “Having only retired
this year from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, I wanted to give something
back. Firefighters around the world risk their lives
to save the lives of others and really are a humble but special breed of
people. In particular I wanted to remember the 343 firefighters lost in
Jimmy Lee said: “The Pipes and
Drums of the FDNY made it their mission to play at every single funeral of the
343 firefighters who lost their lives on September 11th 2001 and we continue to play at many
funerals today. We wanted to do something special to honour the 343 brothers we
lost that day including two members of the pipe band. Working with Willie and
the Red Hot Chilli Pipers was an incredible experience!”
Buy ‘343 The Fallen’ on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/343-the-fallen-single/id1151050432
View the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XYeog6lXjAA