Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy states that listening to AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses has helped him during war
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has shared that music helps has helped him during the war with Russia, particularly the classic rock of AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses.
In a conversation with Erin Burnett for CNN, Zelenskyy was asked about the difficulty of having so many people relying on him. Burnett asked, “Do you do anything for yourself? Are you ever able to take a minute to read or to listen to music or something to sort of give yourself that moment?”
Zelenskyy confirmed, “I have such moments. It’s important to be in silence, to be alone.” He continued to explain how music helps him.
He stated, “Alone, how can I be alone? Alone I can be with music or with a book, and early, early in the morning when there are no sounds, no people, nobody. I can just read. Think, think. And the music helps really.”
Asked about his musical tastes, Zelenskyy named AC/DC, Eric Clapton, and Guns N’ Roses, as well as native Ukrainian music.
He shared, “I like AC/DC, and Ukrainian music. Of course, I like Ukrainian music a lot because Ukranian, that’s native language. That’s why you understand not only music, you understand words, etc. AC/DC, I don’t understand all the words [laughs], but I like the energy of AC/DC. I like Eric Clapton, Guns N’ Roses… Maybe it’s too old music?”
Guns N’ Roses shared the interview on Twitter, captioning the link, “Among good company”.
The Ukrainian President’s connection with rock doesn’t stop there. Bono, the frontman of Irish rock band U2, recently released a range of limited edition merch to raise money for Ukraine, featuring an illustration of Zelenskyy.
Bono stated, “Drawing for me is an excuse to stare at someone whose face or life I might be fascinated with. My drawings are not cartoons, but they are often caricatures of character. In the case of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, we have burdened him with impossible expectations – and impossibly, he has not let us down.”
He continued: “I suppose that’s because President Zelenskyy is not now one person, he’s the Ukrainian people. How do you draw that? Well, you can’t. So I tried to make an icon of his visage instead. A few squiggles and I just got out of the way.”
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