Paul Ryan is a Fan of Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana, Metallica

2012-08-14

Story by Anne Erickson

Republican hopeful for vice president digs grunge and metal, including Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine and Metallica

We already know President Obama is a fan of Al Green (who can forget his spontaneous rendition of “Let’s Stay Together?”), Foo Fighters and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the latter two who have played numerous campaign benefit shows in support of the president. Now, Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan is in the news for his musical picks, and they skew younger than many of the party’s previous rock star favorites.

According to The New York Times‘ new profile of Paul Ryan, the vice presidential hopeful is a fan of a slew of Gen-X-type bands, including Rage Against the Machine. Needless to say, Rage is an odd pick for a right-winger, as the band’s leftism politics are inseparable from their music. “The nation’s first Generation X vice presidential candidate, he is an avowed proponent of free markets whose family has interests in oil leases,” the article states. “But he counts Rage Against the Machine, which sings about the greed of oil companies and whose website praises the anti-corporate Occupy Wall Street movement, among his favorite bands.”

As for more rock favorites, Ryan told CNN his iPod packs “a lot of grunge” music from the ‘90s, as well as the Grateful Dead, Metallica and Led Zeppelin. Along the lines of digging grunge, he’s also apparently a big Nirvana fan. What would the late, great Kurt Cobain think of having Ryan jamming to some “Smelling Like Teen Spirit?” We don’t know, but we’re guess that having Ryan on the Republican ticket means he’s going to have to listen to a lot of country and classic artists over the next few months.

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Anne Erickson

Author, writer and editor Anne Erickson is a longtime music writer and radio host. Her work has been published in the USA Today Network, Consequence.net, Blabbermouth.net, Loudwire.com, the Oakland Press and more. Anne holds a master's degree from Michigan State University. Contact Anne at anne@audioinkradio.com.