A charity single in support of detained mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe will feature her husband Richard and seven-year-old daughter Gabriella.
The Christians have recorded a new version of their song Man Don’t Cry, called Naz Don’t Cry, to raise money for Redress, an international human rights organisation working to help victims of torture.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian dual national, was arrested in Iran in 2016 as she prepared to fly back to the UK, having taken Gabriella – then not even two years old – to see relatives.
Her husband, Richard, recently spent 21 days on hunger strike to draw attention to his wife’s case.
Band members Garry Christian, Joey Ankrah and Neil Griffiths were joined by writer Henry Priestman and Richard and Gabriella to record the track at Liverpool’s Coastal Sound studios, with Richard and Gabriella providing backing vocals at the end of the track.
The band had heard of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case from their fans following a gig a few years ago and had been thinking of how they might be able to help.
Christian said: “We talked about how the words from Man Don’t Cry, from our 1991 album Colour, couldn’t be more appropriate in describing the Ratcliffes’ distressing predicament.
“We talked ourselves out of helping as we thought the band’s profile wasn’t big enough to make a difference and the years rolled on.
“But after seeing Richard Ratcliffe recently on his 21-day hunger strike, we couldn’t bear not to do anything and decided to take action and record Naz Don’t Cry, with proceeds going to Redress.”
He added: “As these lyrics say, ‘We only hope she knows that there are people here who care.’
“We want the song to deliver the simple message that we are all still standing shoulder to shoulder with Nazanin, her devoted husband Richard and beautiful daughter Gabriella.
“It’s absolutely desperate that after all these years she still hasn’t been released back to her family. We hope this song helps in some tiny way.”
Naz Don’t Cry is out now on Island Records.
