The HU Become The First Metal Act Named UNESCO’s Artist For Peace

The Mongolian metal act The HU have been honored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in being selected as an Artist For Peace. Joining the likes of Celine Dione, Herbie Hancock, and Gilberto Gil who’ve previously been acknowledged as Artists for Peace, The HU are now the first metal or rock artist to represent UNESCO’s Artists For Peace. UNESCO made the official announcement on Friday when the band received the honorary title at the ceremony taken place at the organization’s headquarters.

The HU are certainly one of the most unique and culturally vibrant metal bands of this generation, and provided the UNESCO’s qualifications regarding the Artist for Peace title, there aren’t many other rock artists that quite fit the bill as well as The HU do. In a statement that follows The HU’s Artist for Peace recognition, the UNESCO outlines why they chose the group:

“[The HU’s] musical style and ideas immediately resonated with UNESCO’s values and work. Founded in 2016 in Ulaanbaatar, The HU, who have thousands of fans around the world, have created a unique musical genre they call “Hunnu Rock.” It fuses rock and heavy metal with styles of traditional Mongolian music, such as the art of Khöömei (throat singing), the tsuur flute and the Morin Khuur (horse-headed fiddle), all of which have been inscribed by UNESCO on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

In naming the group, The HU as Artist for Peace on Friday, the Director-General recognizes the group’s role in promoting and transmitting this heritage. In return, they will pledge to act as spokespersons for UNESCO’s programmes in this field, participating in events and relaying the Organization’s messages.”

It’s also worth noting that The HU were recipients of Mongolia’s Cultural Envoy of Mongolia certificate in 2019, as well as the Order of Genghis Khan in 2020 which sits as the country’s highest state award.

The band has undoubtedly been making huge strides over recent years and it’s well deserved. Currently The HU is sitting at over 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and provided their amalgamative metal sound it’s the more impressive that their music is attracting such a large audience, as well as getting recognition from UNESCO of all things.