Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s surprise trip to Ukraine on Tuesday took a musical turn when he joined a band on stage in kyiv for a rendition of Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World.
Blinken’s unscheduled trip was his first since Congress finally approved nearly $61 billion in new aid to Ukraine to bolster the nation’s defenses against the ongoing Russian invasion.
The Secretary of State finished his day at Barman Dictat in kyiv, where he took the stage with the group 19.99.
Wearing sporty jeans, black sneakers and a black button-down shirt, Blinken donned a red guitar and told the crowd, “I know this is a really, really difficult time.”
“Your soldiers, your citizens – particularly in the northeast and Kharkiv – are suffering tremendously, but they need to know, you need to know, that the United States is with you, much of the world is with you,” Blinken said. ‘And they are fighting not only for Ukraine but for the free world. And the free world is with you too.’
Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s surprise trip to Ukraine on Tuesday took a musical turn when he joined a band on stage in kyiv for a rendition of Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the World.
Blinken ended his day at Barman Dictat in kyiv, where he took the stage with the band 19.99.
“Then maybe we can try something,” the secretary continued. “I don’t know if we can make it,” she also offered.
Blinken played guitar and sang the chorus of the song, which was released in 1989 before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
As the story continuesYoung’s planned tour of the Soviet Union failed and guitarist Frank ‘Poncho’ Sampedro uttered, “I guess we’ll just have to keep rocking in the free world,” a quote that stuck with the musician.
Tuesday’s songfest wasn’t the only time Blinken shined in an official capacity.
At a State Department event in October 2023 promoting ‘musical diplomacy,’ Blinken grabbed a black Fender and performed Hoochie Coochie Man by Muddy Waters.
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl was in the audience.
Then the secretary published a video of his performance in X.
Wearing sporty jeans, black sneakers and a black button-down shirt, Blinken strapped to a red guitar.
Blinken is a longtime musician and used to play with a band called Cash Bar Wedding that included former White House press secretary Jay Carney as a member.
“I couldn’t pass up tonight’s opportunity to combine music and diplomacy,” Blinken wrote.
During the Trump years, the veteran musician recorded a handful of singles, which can now be found on Spotify under the artist name Ablinken.
His song Lip Service has achieved more than 100,000 views.
Blinken had a DC-based band that consisted of former Obama White House press secretary Jay Carney and Eli Attie, Vice President Al Gore’s former speechwriter who wrote for the television series The West Wing.
The group was called Cash Bar Wedding.
Carney told the New York Times in 2023 that “we are concerned that his work at the State Department is a sign that he is leaving us to launch a solo career.”