He is better known for rallying global support for Ukraine, but US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday picked up another favorite tool of diplomacy
The lifelong music fan turned top US diplomat showed off his guitar chops as he launched a new initiative of music diplomacy through which the United States will send top artists to countries, including China and Saudi Arabia.
After performances in the Department of State’s formal reception room by the likes of jazz icon Herbie Hancock, Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame, and rising young pop singer Gayle, Blinken took the stage himself, joking that he was sure to “clear the floor.”
Tried and tested
Playing rhythm guitar to a house band and turning his usually soft-spoken voice to a deep bellow, Blinken offered a rendition of “Hoochie Coochie Man” by blues legend Muddy Waters, with the audience—many of them his subordinates at the Department of State—not leaving, but cheering.
