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Robbie Williams says Matty Healy is ‘unhinged’ but is also the only pop or rock star who isn’t ‘beige’
Do you agree with Robbie's take on modern pop and rock?
British music royalty Robbie Williams has come out to declare Matty Healy the only pop/rock star “who is willing to be something other than beige” in a recent social media post.
The former Take That singer and pop icon has come out with plenty of big claims of late – including that he believes he’s being targeted by aliens to be a messenger for them on Earth due to his fame – but his latest Insta-rant has also seen him give Matty Healy a bit of a peculiar compliment sandwich.
Crafting a lengthy paragraph on his page, Williams not only called Matty Healy “the only commercially viable pop/rock star that I can see who is willing to be something other than beige” but also “unhinged” and “willing to upset”.
Reiterating that he believes The 1975 frontman is “super smart and super talented”, he also went on to say that the local artist has a propensity to be “upsetting for a cause”. We’re not going to pretend we know exactly what Robbie’s on about but the gist seems to be that he thinks he’s good and provocative.
The 50-year-old, who has been no stranger to a headline or two himself over the years, went on to add that he sees Healy as prone to “Upsetting for a cause. The cause being a complicated inner life a rebellious streak and boredom.”
2023 was very much the year of The 1975 not only in terms of the music industry and their commercial success within it but also because of Healy’s multiple controversies.
From sucking fans’ thumbs in the crowd and being labelled sexist and racist by Rina Sawayama for insensitive jokes made on a podcast, to beefing with Noel Gallagher after he told him to “stop marding” with his brother; dating the other biggest name on the planet in Taylor Swift and more, he’s been absolutely everywhere.
Even in his apologies for comments such as those flagged by labelmate Sawayama, he still couldn’t resist the urge for some added pageantry and turned his response into a fake mental advert for the BetterHelp online therapy company. It’s this kind of stuff that we’re guessing Robbie is referring to.
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Elsewhere in his speech, the Stoke-born singer solo artist asked, “How boring is the music scene right now?”, caveating that while he’s not attacking the music itself, he does believe there’s been a “death of friction, danger, personality”.
Holding his hands up to becoming more ‘vanilla’ in an attempt to stay with the times, he conversely said: “No one knows what you’ll say that will get you cancelled. So many people to offend… I’ve gotta get some of that energy back in my musical life… I hope I have time to fit them all in. It’s time to take the p*ss again… and I’m looking forward to it.”
While we by no means advocate anyone making art simply for the sake of trying to ‘p*ss people off’ and we make no qualms about the likes of Matty Healy being a divisive figure in music, to say the least, it’s impossible to deny there aren’t some seriously huge fans of The 1975 as creatives and performers.
Do you agree that most modern pop/rockstars are ‘beige’ or are there any performers you think are also pushing the boundaries in the contemporary music scene?
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Featured Images — @helloluqman (via X)/Drew de F Fawkes (via Wikimedia Commons)
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Pussycat Dolls cancel wave of tour dates due to poor ticket sales
Daisy Jackson
Pussycat Dolls have finally addressed the swirling rumours that they would be cancelling their upcoming PCD Forever world tour.
The girl group announced a major comeback as a trio – Nicole Scherzinger, Kimberly Wyatt, and Ashley Roberts – and their biggest international run in years.
The new Pussycat Dolls tour included a significant run of shows in Europe, including a Manchester date at Co-op Live.
But now it appears the rumours of low demand are true, and the group are cancelling an entire leg of their world tour – though thankfully, Manchester appears to have made it through safely.
In an open letter shared with fans, Pussycat Dolls said that they have had to take ‘an honest look’ at the tour and have made ‘the difficult and heartbreaking decision’ to cancel a number of concerts.
The Buttons singers will now play just one of their scheduled dates in North America, which will be the WeHo Pride event in LA, acknowledging the importance of performing at the LGBTQ+ celebration.
Addressing rumours that European dates would also be cancelled, they wrote: “Our UK and European dates are still moving forward as planned, and the response has been incredible, with several shows already sold out.
“We are putting everything into making this show a true celebration of the music and the memories, for the fans who have been with us from the beginning and those discovering us for the first time.
“We’re working hard to create the kind of show we’ve always dreamed of bringing to you. We cannot wait to bring this reunion to Europe and make these nights unforgettable.”
Pussycat Dolls signed off: “Thank you for your love, patience, and support.”
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Featured image: Publicity picture, Rankin
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Five Finger Death Punch announce massive anniversary show in Manchester
Danny Jones
Five Finger Death Punch have announced a massive Manchester gig as part of their newly announced 20th anniversary tour.
Still one of our favourite unapologetic band names ever.
The heavy metal outfit is celebrating two whole decades of smashing you in the face with their hard riffs and aggressive vocals, and they’re bringing some other big hitters on the road with them.
Booking Manchester city centre’s AO Arena for the big birthday bash, this is going to be one hard-as-nails show.
Toasting the milestone at the start of 2027, the long-standing Las Vegas outfit will be coming to Manchester for the first time in the best part of a decade.
‘FFDP’, as they’re often abbreviated to, have played several substantial shows here over the years, including arena slots, but fans have had to wait a long time to see them return.
With a new album coming at some point this year – this being their 10th studio LP – we might not have a release date just yet, but you can guarantee die-hards will be snapping up tickets to hear their latest tracks live whenever it does finally drop.
Better still for metalheads, they’ve got not one but TWO popular contemporaries joining them across their extensive EU, UK and IE tour.
In addition to support from Scotland’s very own Bleed From Within, they’ve also got fellow veterans Lamb Of God as another one of their ‘warm-up’ acts.
Yeah, right… This place will be absolutely bouncing by the time the main event makes it to the stage.
Having just dropped their 10th record this year, too, the two heavyweights have plenty of parallels in their increasingly seasoned and successful careers; you could say they’re the perfect touring partners.
Speaking of which, you can see the full list of Five Finger Death Punch dates on the UK leg of their European tour run down below.
Five Finger Death Punch UK show – 2026 tour
- 16 Jan 2027 – Manchester, AO Arena
- 17 Jan 2027 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro Arena
- 19 Jan 2027 – Dublin, 3Arena
- 22 Jan 2027 – Birmingham, BP Pulse Arena
- 23 Jan 2027 – London, O2 Arena
As always with the AO, you can enjoy early access if you’re a Three Mobile member, and the band’s official pre-sale will be available via their mailing list from 10am this Wednesday (6 May).
For those simply looking to grab general admission, you can get ready to grab your tickets to see Five Finger Death Punch live in Manchester on from the same time on Friday, 8 May, right HERE.
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Featured Images — Press shots (supplied via AO)
Danny Jones -
4th April 2024 
