If Palmer Luckey wants to lean into the real-life Tony Stark comparisons, you might expect him to be listening to “Back in Black” by AC/DC.
Instead, he seems to be more of a Hilary Duff guy.
Luckey cofounded Anduril Industries, the defense tech company that produces drones, surveillance systems, and autonomous weapons technology. His recently revealed Spotify account reveals a softer side, with songs like Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi” and Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” among his “Best Music Ever” playlist.
“Like most olds, I jam to the music I grew up with,” Luckey wrote in an email to BI. “Around my peers and the radio-driven world of shared cultural experience it was ‘Sk8er Boi’ – who doesn’t like reliving the highs and lows of teenage angst?”
On Wednesday, a site called “The Panama Playlists” (a nod to the Panama Papers) began to circulate online, which said it had identified the Spotify accounts of influential figures. One X user screenshotted a playlist identified as Luckey’s, writing that he was “120% more bullish” on the founder if the playlist was real.
Luckey confirmed that the playlist was his on X with reference to a Kelly Clarkson hit also on the playlist, “My Life Would Suck Without You.”
Luckey seems to be a big fan of Clarkson. His “Best Music Ever” playlist has three of her songs. “Since U Been Gone” also appears in his “Weekly Discovered” playlist.
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When one X user wrote that it was a “surprising playlist” for the “modern day Iron Man,” Luckey responded with some of Lavigne’s lyrics: “He wasn’t good enough for her.”
Luckey, 32, seems to have a penchant for ’90s and early 2000s radio pop. His best music playlist includes three back-to-back Hilary Duff songs. Luckey is also into boy bands, streaming *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys over two decades after their peak.
While Anduril builds its Ghost 4 drone with metal alloys, Luckey seems to be streaming heavy metal. His Spotify account includes a 77-song playlist exclusively devoted to the metal band DragonForce, along with a 118-song playlist devoted to the Swedish power metal band Sabaton.
“I do like heavy metal, but power metal is much more my jam, along with some pirate metal, melodic metal, and symphonic metal,” Luckey wrote to BI. “I am listening to it all the time, though honestly not much on Spotify these days – physical media like cassettes and CDs is where it is at, along with local storage modded iPods.”
For the Celtic punk fans, Luckey also has a 73-song playlist of exclusively Flogging Molly songs.
For those hoping to celebrate Anduril’s recent $2.5 billion funding round with Luckey at his Newport Beach mansion, his Spotify includes a playlist called “Party.” The playlist sports songs by Kesha, LMFAO, Lady Gaga, and The B-52s.
Luckey’s last playlist has only one song, the unlisted “Winter Wrap Up (VOCAL GUIDE).” The song is from “My Little Pony” — and the Luckey titled the playlist “Brony,” a reference to men who enjoy the animated children’s show.
