The 1975’s Matty Healy addresses past controversies and invites dad Tim on stage at Finsbury Park gig

3 July, 2023

Matty Healy has addressed his recent controversial remarks during The 1975‘s headline at Finsbury Park, and brought out his father for a rendition of ‘All I Need To Hear’.

The frontman addressed recent backlash during the band’s huge outdoor London show last night (July 2), and explained that while he regrets some of his decisions, he often makes controversial remarks to entertain his fans.

The most recent controversy stems from his appearance on the podcast The Adam Friedland Show — which heard him joke about “queerbaiting”, laugh at offensive remarks made by the hosts, and join in when they began mocking various accents.

Addressing the situation while talking to the audience in London last night, he said: “I’m not someone who takes things for granted. The 1975 isn’t a dry band. There’s a lot of irony in it.”

He continued: “I was always trying stuff. And some stuff I got right and some stuff I got wrong… But, do you know what? There’s a lot of things I’ve said, jokes that I’ve made, there’s probably a couple of fucking songs I’d take back if I had the chance.”

He also suggested that his controversial behaviour all stemmed from him trying to entertain his fans, and getting “a bit excited” in the process.

“What I mean is that I really am only doing this because I want to make you guys laugh and feel good. That’s what my favourite art does and that’s what I’m trying to do. I get a bit excited,” he said, later adding that he was “fucking proud” of himself.

matty healy the 1975
The 1975’s Matty Healy. CREDIT: Simone Joyner/Getty Images.

The comments at Finsbury Park follow another onstage reference Healy has made to the podcast appearance. At another 1975 show in Auckland, the singer also issued an apology to rapper Ice Spice, after Friedland and co-host Nick Mullen discussed her heritage, debating whether she is Hawaiian, Inuit or Chinese, before impersonating the accents of those countries and regions.

His comments also led to him being called out by Rina Sawayama at Glastonbury — as the singer used her performance to dedicate new song ‘STFU!!’ to “a white man that watches Ghetto Gaggers, and mocks Asian people on a podcast”.

The first part of her statement seemingly refers to comments made by Healy on the podcast, stating that he watches Ghetto Gaggers – a brand of racially charged pornographic videos involving women of colour.

Elsewhere at the band’s appearance at Finsbury Park, Healy invited his father and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet actor Tim Healy, onstage for a rendition of ‘All I Need To Hear’ from their latest album, ‘Being Funny in a Foreign Language’.

He also surprised fans once again by eating raw meat onstage — a move which he also did at a show in Madison Square Garden last year and throughout their recent tour — before performing push-ups and crawling into a TV. Check out fan-captured footage and the full setlist below.

The 1975’s Finsbury Park setlist was:

1. ‘The 1975 (BFIAFL)’
2. ‘Looking for Somebody (to Love)’
3. ‘Happiness’
4. ‘Love Me’
5. ‘Part of the Band’
6. ‘Oh Caroline’
7. ‘I’m in Love With You’
8. ‘Paris’ (Acoustic)
9. ‘All I Need to Hear’ (with Tim Healy)
10. ‘Be My Mistake’
11. ‘If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)’
12. ‘The Ballad of Me and My Brain’
13. ‘Medicine’
14. ‘About You’ (with Carly Holt)
15. ‘Somebody Else’
16. ‘A Change of Heart’
17. ‘The Sound’
18. ‘It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)’
19. ‘fallingforyou’
20. ‘Guys’
21. ‘I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)’
22. ‘Robbers’
23. ‘I Like America & America Likes Me’ (‘Real World’ version)
24. ‘Love It If We Made It’
25. ‘Sex’
26. ‘Give Yourself a Try’
27. ‘People’

In other news, last week Amber Bain – better known as The Japanese House – addressed the recent controversy surrounding the frontman, and revealed that she wrote The 1975 singer a “really long message” sharing her thoughts.

“Clearly, I have issues with things that have been said – he knows everyone does, that’s the whole point, isn’t it? It’s hard to hold a family member accountable for everything,” she said. “But I feel confident that I’ve made my views about it very clear. And ultimately, here’s someone that on a personal level has been so supportive of me and inspirational – there is no denying that he is an incredible musician and incredible songwriter.”

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