How many politicians are out there who can call themselves true metalheads? Not many, that's for sure. Of course, there's the Shadow Justice Secretary and MP for East Leeds Richard Burgon, who's a big fan of Motorhead, Sleep and Iron Maiden. There's Indonesian president Joko Widodo, who once owned a signed bass from Metallica’s Rob Trujillo, and there's metal singer Danica Roem who sits on the Virginia House Of Delegates. And, although it might not be metal, America's 42nd President Bill Clinton had an admirable taste too, and was once pals with David Bowie. He even managed to get Fleetwood Mac to reunite for a live show in 1993.
But Chile's new President Elect, Gabriel Boric, really has a music taste worth celebrating. Like Burgon, Boric has an appreciation for the good stuff. A quick scan through his Instagram profile shows he's a huge lover of Deftones, which automatically gives him a truck load of cool points from us.
In one Insta post, he even shows off his Deftones CD collection – comprised of 2003's self-titled album, 2000's White Pony and 2020's Ohms – with the caption (translated from Spanish), "A little bit of Deftones to get energy for a key year".
Moreover, he can often be spotted repping their band merch during interviews and other political events, along with Soundgarden caps and tees by Nirvana and Tool. In an article titled What I Know About Gabriel Boric, written by AQ's Brian Winter, a statement reads: "He was the first guest of honour ever to show up in a black Nirvana T-shirt and jeans", which we think is simply brilliant.
Probably the coolest thing about Boric is that he's been widely described as "the most powerful Tool fan in the world". In conversation with Radio Los 40, he even flagged his favourite song by them. He said, “And if I had to pick one of my favourite Tool tracks, I’d put the album’s namesake, Aenema. It is a bit catastrophic and destructive, but it helps to have perspective of where we are".
He also shared a picture of a selection of his cassette tape collection – very retro – which included albums by Korn, Mr Bungle, Metallica, Faith No More, Offspring, Garbage, Pearl Jam, Beastie Boys and many more.
