Former Little Mix singer Jade Thirlwall disagrees with fellow musician Matty Healy’s attempts to distance himself from politics.
“I don’t think you can be a pop artist and cover your eyes,” Thirlwall, 32, told The Guardian in a Saturday, August 16, profile. “I saw Matty Healy say that he doesn’t want to be political, which I found disappointing.”
She added, “It’s very easy for someone who’s white and straight and very privileged to say that. Good for you, hun!”
Healy, 36, had previously claimed that the world didn’t “need more politics” during his band the 1975’s set at Glastonbury Festival in June.
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“People who are watching this may … be disappointed in the lack of politics in this show and our forthcoming shows and probably our future shows,” Healy said during a livestream of the band’s set. “I want you to know that it’s a conscious decision. We honestly don’t want our legacy to be one of politics.”
He continued, “We want it to be that of love and friendship. I’m not trying to be too earnest, but you can go out into the world and there’s loads of politics everywhere. We don’t need more politics. We need more love and friendship.”
According to Healy, he also wanted The 1975 fans to be inspired by their “level of friendship and love.”
“I know that’s really basic, but if you are a young kid and you are inspired by, like, this band or something like that — don’t aspire to play a stage or be a certain size,” Healy concluded. “Aspire for this level of friendship and love in what you do and you’ll never fail. And I love you.”
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Thirlwall, meanwhile, finds it important to stand up for her beliefs. In 2015, she briefly took over the official Twitter account for Little Mix to say that she was “truly saddened and ashamed” by the U.K. parliament voting to carry out airstrikes in Syria. (Thirlwall had signed her personal message with her first name surrounded by two letter X’s on each side that often denote a kiss.)
“I got in a bit of trouble for that,” Thirlwall, now a solo artist, recalled to The Guardian. “I felt very passionate about it. I’m no expert in politics but I’ve always taken an interest. Around 9/11, I saw first‑hand the Islamophobia that my grandad experienced, and as someone of Arab heritage, I’ve seen people turning a blind eye to the Middle Eastern tragedy.”
