UK singer Robbie Williams took to Instagram this week to express his dissatisfaction with the character of the music scene, calling it “boring” in terms of the substance outside of the music itself.
“How boring is the music scene right now? I’m not attacking the music itself. I’m just lamenting the death of friction, danger, personality…” he e said in his post on the 1st of April.
While one might be nervous that this post was an April Fool’s post at first glance, Williams is completely serious and makes his case towards bringing back the bygone era of rockstars making a scene and making us talk – ergo, Matty Healy.
“Matt Healy is the only commercially viable Pop/Rock star that I can see who is willing to be something other than beige. I really like Matt he’s unhinged, super smart, super talented and willing to upset. Upsetting for a cause. The cause being a complicated inner life a rebellious streak and boredom.”
Williams is undoubtedly onto something by calling Healy “something other than beige”. The 1975 singer has always been one to walk a fine line between controversial and supportive in a way that you never really know what to expect next.
Examples of Healy’s newsworthy streak involve him shutting down Good Vibes Festival in Malaysia due to protesting anti-LGBTQ+ laws, making derogatory comments about rapper Ice Spice, and doing a Nazi salute onstage while singing a line about Kanye West.
It would seem that real recognises real, as Robbie Williams has also provided a slew of entertainment and conversation starters with his behaviour over the years, including leaving and eternally criticising his past group Take That, asking fans for shoplifting advice, and snapping at reporters (and most controversial of all to Australians: referring to Melbourne as Sydney on stage).
In fact, both musicians seem to have managed the impressive feat of being banned from performing in entire countries, with Williams barred from Russia and The 1975 banned from Malaysia and Dubai.
The Matty Healy-fronted band faced legal trouble from both the Malaysian government and the Good Vibes Festival after the singer performed a 3-minute speech condemning the anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
“I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with,” he said. Healy would then go on to kiss bandmate Ross MacDonald onstage, very publicly breaking Malaysian law. While Healy was trying to rally support for LGBTQ+ representation in Southeast Asia, a lot of fans from the community have commented that Healy’s actions were more destructive than uplifting.
Meanwhile, for Williams, Healy has definitely inspired something:
“It’s time to take the piss again… and I’m looking forward to it.”
