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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?

Danny Jones - 4th April 2024

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.

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A post shared by Robbie Williams (@robbiewilliams)

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.

Read more:

• Charli XCX announces Manchester arena gig on massive ‘Brat’ tour
• The 1975 ‘banned from Malaysia’ after Matty Healy kisses male bandmate live on stage
• Liam Gallagher says his son Gene’s band will be supporting him on Definitely Maybe tour

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)