Jade Thirlwall is making it clear where she stands when it comes to politics in pop music—and she’s not mincing words about Matty Healy.
The 32-year-old former Little Mix star, now pursuing her solo career with the single “Angel of My Dreams,” opened up in a new interview about why she believes artists have a responsibility to speak up.
Her comments came in response to The 1975 frontman’s Glastonbury Festival speech earlier this summer, where Healy reflected on the band’s legacy and made it known that he intends to stay quiet about political issues moving forward.
“I don’t think you can be a pop artist and cover your eyes,” Jade told The Guardian. “I saw Matty Healy say that he doesn’t want to be political, which I found disappointing. It’s very easy for someone who’s white and straight and very privileged to say that. Good for you, hun!”
Jade contrasted his stance with her own. At Glastonbury, she used her stage time to rally the crowd, leading a chant of “F-ck you” directed at government reform, welfare cuts, silencing protests, and arms trading.
“I was ready for a backlash from the right kind of people,” she admitted. “I saw a lot of people saying ‘Your Glastonbury set was really good until you got political’ or ‘I used to be a fan of yours until you got political’. But, hun, you were never a fan, because I’ve always piped up.”
And she’s right—Jade has a long history of speaking out. Back in 2015, she used the Little Mix group account on Twitter/X to voice her disappointment when parliament voted to bomb ISIL targets in Syria.
“I got in a bit of trouble for that,” she recalled. “But I felt very passionate about it. I’m no expert in politics but I’ve always taken an interest. Around 9/11 I saw first-hand the Islamophobia that my grandad experienced, and as someone of Arab heritage I’ve seen people turning a blind eye to the Middle Eastern tragedy. What’s quite funny is that we didn’t have individual Twitter accounts, and we each had to sign off tweets from the Little Mix account with our name. So I did my tweet about Syria and ended it with ‘xxJadexx.’”
Her activism has only deepened over time. Jade has consistently supported LGBTQ+ rights, spoken up for Free Palestine, and most recently, joined Pride in London’s parade with the Not a Phase organization—a trans-led charity supporting trans+ adults across the UK.
For Jade, staying silent has never been an option. Her words serve as a reminder: while some artists may shy away from difficult conversations, Jade sees using her platform as part of her job.
