Jon Batiste Drops Climate-Driven Dance Anthem Petrichor 20 Years After Katrina
Two decades after Hurricane Katrina devastated his hometown of New Orleans, musician and cultural icon Jon Batiste unveiled a powerful new song urging climate action. Released as part of his latest album Big Money, the track “Petrichor” blends urgent environmental messaging with an irresistible dance rhythm. Batiste described it as “a warning, set to a dance beat.”
The title Petrichor refers to the familiar, earthy smell that follows a rainfall after a prolonged dry spell, symbolic of the natural balance that our planet is desperately losing. The song’s refrain, “they burning the planet down,” gives listeners no excuse to ignore its message.
Batiste explained that artists bear the responsibility to make statements that bring people together and drive change. He stressed that people power, raising voices, making demands, and voting, can make a real difference.
While the song doesn’t shy away from the grim consequences of our current trajectory, Batiste remains hopeful. He encouraged adopting simple solutions like clean-energy technologies, citing their availability and broad public support. “There’s a blanket of pollution around the Earth,” he said, pointing out the urgency of shifting away from fossil fuels and deforestation.
His environmental concern runs deep and personal. During the Covering Climate Now interview, Batiste and his mother, Katherine Batiste, both affirmed their faith in science and climate action. Katherine, who worked in environmental roles in Louisiana during Jon’s upbringing, sat beside him, offering a powerful multigenerational testament to their convictions.
Batiste’s roots are steeped in both music and activism. His New Orleans family includes storied musicians like Lionel and Russell Batiste Jr., while his maternal grandfather, David Gauthier, was a union leader involved in the sanitation workers’ strike that brought Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis. Raised on this legacy of justice and cultural pride, Jon bakes activism into his art.
For Batiste, Petrichor epitomizes the broader themes of Big Money, a critique of capital at the expense of the planet, and an optimistic call for equity. “We’re in the wealthiest time in human history,” he reflects, yet many lack basic needs such as clean water, food, and healthcare. Those disparities, he warns, disproportionately affect low-income communities and people of color, especially when policy is shaped by a select, wealthy few.
Speaking from New York’s Middle Church, a site bearing the motto “Just Love”, Batiste emphasized our moral duty to care for Earth. Quoting Pope Francis, he reminded listeners that the planet is a sacred “common home,” urging stewardship and collective responsibility.