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And Finally Artist News
Damon Albarn says Tony Blair “terrified” him out of pursuing a career in politics
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 9 December 2021
Damon Albarn says that back in the 1990s he was considering a career move into politics, but a meeting with Tony Blair “terrified” him so much he gave up on the idea.
“Politics is such a murky business”, Albarn tells Metro. “I would be lying if I said I hadn’t considered it when I was younger. I even went and had a strategic meeting with Tony Blair before he became Prime Minister, but that terrified me so much. [I thought] ‘I don’t know if this is for me at all – I’m not a politician, I am a musician'”.
Albarn has previously spoken about this meeting, but didn’t reveal that it was with a view to him getting into politics himself. In 2015, he told Channel 4 News that the meeting had left him feeling “terrified about Tony Blair”, adding: “I picked up on something kind of odd about him that I didn’t understand. I was a bit scared of him, if I’m honest with you”.
While he may have been put off getting into politics, Albarn’s Blur bandmate Dave Rowntree has been involved at a local level for many years. After several attempts to become elected as a Labour councillor, he became county councillor for the University division in Norwich in 2017.
