Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also listening to 'Driver's License'


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
At this point, it's no secret that Secretary of State Antony Blinken — frontman of his now-infamous "wonk rock" band Ablinken — is a music guy. But what new music does the high-ranking government official listen to in his free time? As it turns out, a little bit of everything (if only just to stay current).
In a Rolling Stone interview published Tuesday, Blinken named Taylor Swift and her self-proclaimed musical child Olivia Rodrigo as recent plays. When asked his thoughts on Rodrigo's smash hit "Driver's License," Blinken said the song was "really good," and that, unlike him, the 18-year-old singer/songwriter has a natural "gift." "I have to work at it," he said, "And even then." He speaks just as highly of Grammy-award winning producer and frequent Swift collaborator Jack Antonoff: "That guy is amazing."
And it didn't stop there. Recently, the secretary of state broke new pop culture ground by finally downloading a Justin Bieber song. "Something happened a few weeks ago that I never thought would happen," Blinken said in the interview. "I liked it so much that I downloaded a Justin Bieber song, 'Hallelujah.' I never thought that would happen to me." Read more at Rolling Stone.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Brigid is a staff writer at The Week and a graduate of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Her passions include improv comedy, David Fincher films, and breakfast food. She lives in New York.
-
Should you fire your financial adviser? 4 signs it's time to say goodbye.
The Explainer Breakups are never fun, but you have to protect your wallet
By Becca Stanek Published
-
The daily gossip: Man arrested in connection with shooting of Tupac Shakur, an OceanGate movie is in the works, and more
Feature The daily gossip: September 29, 2023
By Brendan Morrow Published
-
What to expect from an El Niño winter
The Explainer Things might be different thanks to this well-known weather phenomenon
By Devika Rao Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published