During a visit to Kyiv, Ukraine earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken joined a live band onstage at a bar to perform a cover of Neil Young‘s “Rockin’ in the Free World.”
Blinken traveled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and speak to officials about the country’s ongoing war with Russia and explain how the U.S. plans to help them rebuild [via BBC].
During his visit, Blinken made a surprise appearance onstage at a bar called The Barman Dictat, where covers band 19.99 were playing a show. Together, they covered Young’s anthem “Rockin’ in the Free World,” which the musician wrote in 1989 after a planned tour in the Soviet Union had fallen through, according to Ultimate Classic Rock.
The Guardian reports that the members of 19.99 were told prior to the show that they would be playing with Young himself, but they eventually found that their special guest was the U.S. Secretary of State instead.
“Your soldiers, your citizens – particularly in the Northeast, in Kharkiv – are suffering tremendously,” Blinken said before the song started.
“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.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Plays Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ at Bar in Ukraine
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Arsen Gorbach, guitarist for 19.99, called the moment “a very important point of Ukrainian history and cultural history.” However, opinions on the situation are divided on social media. Some praised the performance, but many felt it wasn’t in good taste.
“Kharkiv region is being wiped from the Earth, people are leaving their homes, Kharkiv is under strike from air bombs. Sumy region is preparing, and a U.S. top official is singing songs in a Kyiv bar,” the head of a Ukrainian NGO wrote on Facebook, as noted by The Guardian.
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“Blinken in Kyiv today – warning that the war in Ukraine is at a ‘critical moment,’ then playing Neil Young in a basement club,” one person wrote in a post on X.
“Everyone has a take on Sec. Blinken’s jamming to Neil Young’s ‘Rockin in the Free World’ in Kyiv. But do you really know what the song is about? Read the lyrics. Interesting pick for the U.S. top diplomat,” wrote another.
See some other reactions below.
