Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken is a guitarist with two singles on Spotify

Joe Biden’s Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken is a ‘smooth-talking guitarist’ who even has two singles on Spotify – Lip Service and Patience

  • Anthony Blinken, 58, is the former deputy secretary of state under the Obama administration and a longtime aide to the President-elect
  • But Blinken is better-known to his 57 monthly Spotify fans as ‘Ablinken’ – the crooner and guitarist behind the original love songs Lip Service and Patience
  • He is modest about his musical prowess tweeting back in October that he does ‘mostly blues and rock’ and is ‘not good enough for bluegrass’
  • His love of music stems back to his days in Paris where he went to school and first learned to play guitar
  • He played in a Parisian jazz band, performed Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall at his own graduation and is also known for his love of The Beatles 
  • Several media outlets were quick to point out the stark difference between the avid musician and his predecessor Mike Pompeo

Joe Biden‘s Secretary of State nominee Anthony Blinken is a ‘smooth-talking guitarist’ who even has two singles on Spotify.   

The former deputy secretary of state under the Obama administration and longtime aide to the President-elect has more than his long career as a diplomat under his belt.

Blinken, 58, is better-known to his 57 monthly Spotify fans as ‘Ablinken’ – the crooner and guitarist behind original love songs including Lip Service and Patience. 

In Lip Service, Blinken laments about an unrequited love interest, singing: ‘You said you like me fine, but not in that way; Oh was it such a crime to want you to stay; And then I came onto you; But you said let’s just be friends yeah.’  

Joe Biden’s Secretary of State nominee Anthony Blinken is a ‘smooth-talking guitarist’ who even has two singles on Spotify. Pictured the cover for ‘Lip Service’

Blinken, 58, is best-known to his 57 monthly Spotify fans as 'Ablinken' - the crooner and guitarist behind original love songs including Lip Service and Patience (cover above)

Blinken, 58, is best-known to his 57 monthly Spotify fans as ‘Ablinken’ – the crooner and guitarist behind original love songs including Lip Service and Patience (cover above)

Despite his following, the 58-year-old is modest about his musical prowess tweeting back in October that he does ‘mostly blues and rock’ and is ‘not good enough for bluegrass’.

However, according to Politico, he promoted his Spotify page at the end of his Twitter bio before he removed it Monday – the day his nomination for the role of America’s top diplomat was revealed.   

Blinken’s love of music stems back to his days in Paris where he went to school and first learned to play guitar.

He used to play in a Parisian jazz band and once took to the stage to perform Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall at his own graduation.

Aside from jazz, he is also known for his love of The Beatles with the Washington Post reporting back in 2013 that he would jam blues and Beatles covers with White House press secretary Jay Carney and other Obama-era politicians.  

Blinken playing with the Coalition of the Willing (C.O.W.) - Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter, Andras Simonyi on vocals and guitar, Dan Poneman on blues harp, Linc Bloomfield on bass and Dan MacDermott on drums - to perform Hoochie Coochie Man at an event hosted by British Ambassador to the US Sir Kim and Lady Vanessa Darroch in 2016

Blinken playing with the Coalition of the Willing (C.O.W.) – Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter, Andras Simonyi on vocals and guitar, Dan Poneman on blues harp, Linc Bloomfield on bass and Dan MacDermott on drums – to perform Hoochie Coochie Man at an event hosted by British Ambassador to the US Sir Kim and Lady Vanessa Darroch in 2016

His love of the band is something of a family affair with his mother once spending a day reading poetry with John Lennon and Yoko Ono.  

And his music career isn’t Blinken’s only brush with fame outside the political realm as he also once featured in an episode of Sesame Street back in 2016. 

During his appearance on the children’s TV show, Blinken spoke about the role of the United Nations and the importance of welcoming refugees to the US, telling his young audience refugees are ‘just like you and me’.

‘Grover, can you imagine how difficult it would be to have to leave your home?’ Blinken asked the puppet Grover.

Grover responded: ‘No, I cannot, I would never want to leave Sesame Street’.  

Despite his following, the 58-year-old is modest about his musical prowess tweeting back in October that he does 'mostly blues and rock' and is 'not good enough for bluegrass'

Despite his following, the 58-year-old is modest about his musical prowess tweeting back in October that he does ‘mostly blues and rock’ and is ‘not good enough for bluegrass’

Several media outlets were quick to point out the stark difference between the avid musician and his predecessor and current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who has taken a hard stance on refugees. 

‘Joe Biden plans to tap his smooth-talking, Paris-bred, guitar-playing former Senate aide as America’s next top diplomat,’ Politico managing editor Blake Hounshell tweeted.  

Blinken joined the State Department in 1994 under the Clinton administration and has worked with Biden for almost two decades including as his top aide on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and his national security adviser when Biden was vice-president. 

He became Obama’s deputy Secretary of State from 2015 until Donald Trump took office. 

He is currently Biden’s foreign policy adviser. 

Blinken also co-founded political strategy firm WestExec Advisors and has previously worked as a foreign affairs analyst for CNN.    

Blinken how he is more typically seen. The former deputy secretary of state under the Obama administration and longtime aide to the President-elect is expected to be Biden's Secretary of State

Blinken how he is more typically seen. The former deputy secretary of state under the Obama administration and longtime aide to the President-elect is expected to be Biden’s Secretary of State