Watch as UK PM Andy Burnham plays a Smiths song with Ukrainian soldiers in Kyiv: “You can take the man out of Manchester…”
UK prime minister Andy Burnham has made no secret his love of guitar music, proclaiming back in 2022 his love of The Beatles, The Stone Roses, Radiohead and others.
But he’s not just a fan of guitar music; he’s also a longtime guitar player, and has been captured on video on numerous occasions playing both guitar and bass, and showing an affinity for Gretsch and Gibson guitars.
And his guitar skills have been showcased once again during his recent visit to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, as the UK pledges its continued support for the country amid its ongoing war with Russia.
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Burnham – who was mayor of Manchester – joined soldiers in a mobile recording studio, part of Ukraine’s military and artistic unit, which routinely performs on the front lines and in hospitals to boost morale.
Equipped with a silver T-style electric guitar, the British prime minister can be seen in a video posted to his official Instagram page playing a rendition of Rusholme Ruffians by Mancunian legends the Smiths.
The guitar he plays is in fact a hand-built model by Kyiv’s WM Guitars. It also features the emblem of the Ukraine military’s Cultural Forces division. Check out the clip below:
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Andy Burnham isn’t the first guitar-toting politician to have flexed his six-string skills in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in 2022. Back in 2024, then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital after the United States signed a new aid package, during which he performed a cover of Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World.
The post Watch as UK PM Andy Burnham plays a Smiths song with Ukrainian soldiers in Kyiv: “You can take the man out of Manchester…” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
