Matty Healy.Photo: Michael Buckner/Variety/Penske Media via Getty
Get to knowMatty Healy, the lead singer and rhythm guitarist ofThe 1975.
The musician, 34, is best known as the frontman of the English pop-rock band that originated in Manchester during his early high school years in 2002.
Since then, Healy and the other 1975 members — bassist Ross MacDonald, guitarist Adam Hann and drummer George Daniel — have seen success with hits like “Chocolate,” their breakthrough hit and most successful single after its 2013 release.
In addition to topping charts and racking up awards over the span of their five studio albums to date, the English alternative band has collaborated with some of the biggest names in music, like Grammy-winning producerJack Antonoffand 12-time Grammy winnerTaylor Swift.
The 1975.Jordan Curtis Hughes
While Healy’s widely known for being a member of The 1975, he’s also created a name for himself independently — in part due to his bold statements and performance-art hijinks, often making headlines and sending Twitter abuzz as a result.
His on-stage antics aside, the musician has spawned a number of viral moments due to his show-stopping performances — literally. At his band’s At Their Very Best tour stop in November 2022, he stirred conversation for calling out security for failure to help a fallen fan at a concert… and fordoing so in autotune.
He also spawned romance rumors, most recently, with longtime pal Swift — and made multiple appearances at her concerts in Nashville, Tennessee amid her Eras Tour in early May. Not only did hesupport her from the crowdon all three nights, buthe joinedopenerPhoebe Bridgerson stage for her set during night two.
A few days prior to the appearances, fans started buzzing online afterThe Sunreported that the musicians are dating. The two were rumored to have dated in 2014, though Healy haspreviously deniedthat was the case.
Matty Healy.Jordan Curtis Hughes
Here’s everything to know about Healy, from his A-list collaborations to his jaw-dropping performances on stage.
He’s the son of actors Tim Healy and Denise Welch
It may not surprise you to find out Healy comes from a line of entertainers: Both of his parents are British television actors — father Tim Healy (ofAuf Wiedersehen, PetandBenidorm) and mother Denise Welch (ofCoronation Streetand now a panelist on talk showLoose Women).
They welcomed Healy in 1989. He was born in London and grew up in Newcastle before moving to Wilmslow. Tim and Denise welcomed a second son, Louis, in 2001. Healy’s brother, now 22, is an actor like their parents.
He was originally the drummer in The 1975
Healy met his current band members at England’s Wilmslow High School in 2002, and they’ve been making music together since age 13. Prior to becoming the band’s lead singer and rhythm guitarist with the occasional piano, Healy originally played drums.
“We all met up, and I was the drummer, and I was singing,” he said, adding that their initial lead singer left to join another band and things began to shift, especially when drummer George Daniel came on board.
“I was originally the drummer,” Healy continued. “But then I met George and it changed my life.”
Matty Healy, George Daniel, Adam Hann and Ross MacDonald.Samir Hussein/WireImage
He’s known for his stage stunts, like biting into a raw steak
In addition to his signature onstage cigarettes and bottle of malbec, Healy has a reputation for performance art during the band’s shows, includingmid-song snogsduring “Robbers” andsnacking on raw meat on stagein front of several thousand fans.
During his band’s November 2022 concert at Madison Square Garden, the musician went viral for eating bites from a slab of raw steak following a round of shirtless pushups in a commentary on toxic masculinity. (Healy repeated the stunt again during various dates of The 1975’s At Their Very Best tour.)
Even Healy’s mothertweetedthat she “saw it too,” in response to a journalist who wrote: “There is no way I could possibly explain to my 18-year-old self that I just watched Matty Healy grope himself onstage and eat a raw steak before crawling into a television.” “Couldn’t be prouder,” Welch jokingly replied.
Matty Healy.Marcelo Hernandez/Getty
The 1975 worked on Taylor Swift’s albumMidnights
In September 2022, he initially dismissedtalk of joining forces with Swiftas “fake news,” but later admitted that he and his bandmatesactually did work with the superstaron her albumMidnights. However, he clarified in an interview that whatever they did create didn’t make the cut.
“We actually worked a bit on that but then the version of it never came out,” Healy said in an interview withKROQ’s Klein/Ally Show for Audacy’s DTS Sound Space. After the crowd booed the news of their scrapped collaboration, the “About You” singer was quick to defend Swift.
“It was for reasons that are not to be criticized,” he said. “She’s amazing.”
Their music partnership was a long time coming;the two had a history of supporting each other’s music via merch, and in 2019 Healy said onThe Green Roompodcast that he’d be down to produce an acoustic record for her if she wanted. “I would never slag Taylor off, I think Taylor’s amazing,” he said at the time.
In early 2023,she joined The 1975 during one of their concertsto perform “Anti-Hero” for the first time and cover the band’s song “The City.”
He shares producer Jack Antonoff with Taylor Swift, among other acclaimed artists
The pair share producerJack Antonoffin common, who is also the lead singer of the band Bleachers. The eight-time Grammy winner (who took home the 2023 Grammy for producer of the year) is also known for his collaborations with chart-toppers likeLana Del Rey,Lorde, St. Vincent and Florence and the Machine.
In an August 2022Pitchforkprofile of Healy, The 1975 frontman said that Swift got an early listen of their albumBeing Funny in a Foreign Language"through Jack." She was quoted in Healy’s profile, describing the record as “so funny.”
Phoebe Bridgers, Jack Antonoff and Matty Healy.Taylor Hill/Getty
Antonoff is not the only collaborator Swift and Healy have in common. Phoebe Bridgers is another, who surprised fans at The 1975’s Los Angeles show in November 2022 for an acoustic performance of “Milk,” an early deep cut off the 1975’s second EP, and also appears on the band’s “Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America” off their fourth album,Notes on a Conditional Form. Swift, meanwhile, recruited Bridgers for a feature on “Nothing New (Taylor’s Version),” a vault track offRed.
The 1975 turned down a stadium tour with Ed Sheeran
Healy turned heads in September 2022 when he revealed that The 1975declined an offer to openforEd Sheeranon a four-month string of stadium concerts, despite a large paycheck.
“It’s difficult to be big and say — genuinely — that I have zero commercial ambition,” Healy toldThe New York Timesof his decision. “I tend to say no to stuff for money.”
“I don’t know how you can write this up without it being rude or inappropriate, but I just got offered a four-month tour next year of stadiums with the biggest singer-songwriter in the world that would’ve made me money that I’ve never even seen or heard of in my life,” he said in reference to Sheeran.
Matty Healy, Ed Sheeran.Karwai Tang/WireImage; Karwai Tang/WireImage
Healy made clear that he doesn’t have anything against Sheeran, however. He was simply just not interested in the money. “I don’t care. It’s not worth it,” he said.
source: people.com
