The 1975 frontman Matty Healy recently courted controversy in Malaysia after delivering an impassioned speech about the country’s LGBTQ+ laws and kissing his bassist onstage. The band’s set at the Good Vibes festival in Kuala Lumpur was cut short as a result.
Healy addressed the crowd directly, saying: “I don’t see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.” He didn’t mince words when it came to his opinion of the Malaysian government, calling them “a bunch of fucking retards”.
The frontman concluded that the band wouldn’t be playing their “uplifting” songs because he was “fucking furious” and it wouldn’t be fair to the crowd. He said: “You don’t get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I’m fucking furious and that’s not fair on you because you’re not representative of your government. Because you are young people and I am sure a lot of you are gay and progressive and cool.”
This wasn’t the first time Healy has spoken out about the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. In 2019, he kissed a male fan during a show in Dubai, which is illegal and punishable with up to 10 years in jail. After the show he tweeted: “Thank you Dubai you were so amazing. I don’t think we’ll be allowed back due to my ‘behaviour’ but know that I love you and I wouldn’t have done anything differently given the chance again.”
Good Vibes festival shared an official statement expressing regret that the set was cut short “due to non-compliance with local performance guidelines”. Those who purchased a single-day Friday wristband were invited to attend the festival on either Saturday or Sunday.
The 1975 are continuing their Asian tour with a date in Jakarta on Sunday July 23 before some North American dates. They were recently drafted in as replacement headliners for Lewis Capaldi at Reading & Leeds festival in the UK, where they’ll be playing their self-titled debut album in full to mark its 10th anniversary.
Leave a Reply