Today (July 16) marks the 80th anniversary of the detonation of the first nuclear bomb, at the Alamogordo Bombing Range in New Mexico. To commemorate the dark occasion, and to promote the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons, two star-studded new versions of Bob Dylan’s classic 1963 protest song “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” have been released as part of a digital EP.

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The recordings feature the contributions of Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson, Iggy Pop, Tom Morello, and dozens of other music artists.

One version of the song features various artists alternately singing the verses and choruses, while the second features the lyrics recited by various contributors over a droning alternate backing track.

The veteran contemporary classical string ensemble the Kronos Quartet recorded the main tracks with contributions from additional musicians and singers who are credited as The Hard Rain Collective.

The debut of the reimagined “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” covers coincides with the Nobel Laureate Assembly for the Prevention of Nuclear War, a gathering of Laureates and nuclear experts taking place July 14 to 16 at the University of Chicago.

On the evening of July 16, the Kronos Quartet will perform “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” at the conference with singer/songwriter Alison Russell. Russell is one of the vocalists featured on the sung version of the tune

More Details About the “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” Covers

The artists featured on the sung version “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” include Nelson, Iggy Pop, Laurie Anderson, Magnetic Fields frontman Stephin Merritt, Deerhoof’s Satomi Matsuzaki, and Alison Russell.

Among the musicians who joined the Kronos Quartet on the track are Patti Smith drummer Jay Dee Daugherty, Belle & Sebastian keyboardist Chris Geddes and members of Deerhoof.

The spoken-word version of “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” titled “Hard Rain (Drone),” features vocals from Starr, Nelson, Iggy Pop, Anderson, Matsuzaki, Morello, Merritt, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sleaford Mods, and Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot.

Anderson also played violin and synthesizer on the track.

Both versions of “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” also feature a choir made up of various Brooklyn, New York, vocalists.

The Kronos Quartet and The Hard Rain Collective’s Hard Rain EP was released by the Red Hot organization. Red Hot is a not-for-profit organization that is “dedicated to fusing advocacy with art.”

More About “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”

Dylan wrote “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” in October 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis, when there was an ominous threat of nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

The song appeared on Dylan’s second studio album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, released in May 1963. In the liner notes, Dylan described the tune as “a desperate kind of song.” He added, “Every line in it is actually the start of a whole song. But when I wrote it, I thought I wouldn’t have enough time alive to write all those songs so I put all I could into this one.”

Comments About the New Versions of “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”

In a statement, the Kronos Quartet’s leader, David Harrington, explained how his group came to record the new versions of “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.”

“Owen Gaffney of the Nobel Prize Outreach invited Kronos to reimagine ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ to mark 80 years since the Trinity Test of July 16, the bombing of Hiroshima August 6 and Nagasaki Aug. 9, 1945,” he revealed. “That invitation set into motion a chain reaction of effort unique in our work.”

Harrington also noted that the goal of the new versions of “Hard Rain” was “to show [the song’s] power and contemporary relevance.”

He added, “Even though we live in perilous times, there are also thrilling, courageous voices and wondrous instruments of celebration. Bob Dylan’s words and music give us all a collective response to the fear of nature’s annihilation.”

In addition, Harrington pointed out that the recordings featured “participants from 15 countries ages 7-92 representing all humanity.” He concluded, “Here we are: reenergized as we face an uncertain future because we were able to create ‘Hard Rain’ together.”