Matty Healy Gives Mixed Message on Politics as The 1975 Kick Off Glastonbury Headline Sets
Matty Healy was his usual, charismatic self on the Pyramid Stage Friday night as The 1975 kicked off the Glastonbury Festival headline sets.
The Brit spoke earnestly alongside his fellow band members as they thrilled the 100,000+ audience with hits like “Chocolate,” “About You,” and “Somebody Else” from their varied discography.
Healy was, as always, poking fun at himself and others as he began the hour-and-a-half show with a pint of beer in one hand.
“I know I’m meant to be a rockstar, but this is really scary and I’m really nervous,” he admitted about performing at the U.K.’s crown jewel of music festivals. “It’s difficult to tell when I’m being sincere on stage… But what this moment is making me realize is that, yeah, I probably am the best. I probably am the best songwriter of my generation,” he joked.
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He candidly continued: “It’s the first time in my life I don’t know what to say.”
The band’s official line was no politics, according to Healy, who said that people watching the BBC’s live Glastonbury coverage at home might be “disappointed” by the “lack of politics in this show.”
He said: “I want you to know it’s a conscious decision… We don’t want our legacy to be politics; we want our [message] to be love and friendship.”
The singer contradicted himself swiftly after. Screens flanking the band as they played “Love It If We Made It” displayed, among others, clips of KKK rituals, Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein, the war in Gaza, Kanye West, police brutality in the U.S., 9/11 and London’s Grenfell Tower burning down.
The 1975 are the first of three acts to headline this year’s Glastonbury: Neil Young takes on Saturday’s slot and Sunday is reserved for American star Olivia Rodrigo.
The Glastonbury Festival runs until June 29.
