Watch: Antony Blinken plays guitar in Kyiv, tells Ukraine to keep 'Rockin' in the Free World' as it battles Russia

After a hectic day of serious diplomacy, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday hit a basement bar in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and picked up a guitar, but the rock notes he struck were as serious as ever.

As Ukraine battled the invading Russian forces, Blinken strummed the guitar to Neil Young’s 1989 song ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’. The song was released in 1989 just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, an event that marked the Western triumph against the Soviet Union. The selection of the song appeared to underline the central theme of Joe Biden’s presidency that the United States is fighting for the cause of democracy against the autocracies of the world led by China and Russia.

Blinken message of the free world came at a when Ukrainian forces struggle to contain a Russian offensive in the Kharkiv province in the country’s northeast. In the bar when he was singing, as he did in meetings with Ukrainian leaders, Blinken said the US and the world stands with Ukraine.

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“I know this is a really, really difficult time…Your soldiers, your citizens —particularly in the northeast in Kharkiv— are suffering tremendousl, but they need to know, you need to know, the United States is with you, so much of the world is with you, and they’re fighting not just for a free Ukraine, but for the free world, and the free world is with you too,” said Blinken as he joined a punk-jazz band in strumming the anthemic song.

During a visit to Kyiv, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken played Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” with a local band at a bar in a show of support for Ukraine. https://t.co/DhkorwHYE2 pic.twitter.com/7sgjOftVaK

— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 15, 2024

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Blinken is a longtime guitarist

This is not the first time that Blinken, a longtime guitarist, has taken up the instrument and joined a performance. He has played in bands before too and some of those tracks are up on Spotify and YouTube.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Blinken once said that “the thread that runs throughout my life is probably music”.

Previously, Blinken was part of a band that was called ‘Cash Bar Wedding’. His fellow members at the band were Eli Attie, a speechwriter for former Vice President Al Gore and Jay Carney, a spokesperson for President Joe Biden when he was still the Vice President in Barak Obama’s administration.

While Blinken’s tracks have been played in his events occasionally, the most notable moment was in September 2023 when he joined a band playing at an event of the Department of State to mark the launch of the Global Music Diplomacy Initiative.

I couldn’t pass up tonight’s opportunity to combine music and diplomacy. Was a pleasure to launch @StateDept’s new Global Music Diplomacy Initiative. pic.twitter.com/6MUfTXO9xK

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) September 28, 2023