Inside Denise Welch's close bond with Matty Healy after relationship was tested
As Matty Healy prepares to headline Glastonbury, his mum Denise Welch will be proudly watching on, years after their relationship was tested by depression and addiction
Matty Healy is preparing to do what he does best - command a stage and stir up headlines. The 1975 frontman will lead the band through a highly anticipated Pyramid Stage set tonight, performing in front of thousands of fans. But among the sea of faces, there's one he'll be looking for; proud mum, Loose Women star Denise Welch, watching from the side lines.
Appearing on Loose Women, Denise shared her excitement, saying: 'For those who don't know, my son is the lead singer for The 1975 and they are headlining Glastonbury on Friday. Obviously, I'm an incredibly proud mum.
'You've got to remember the band has been together for 23 years. They started in our garage as 12 and 13-year-old boys. Some of the songs they'll be playing, Matty was writing at 15 and 16,' she added, before admitting she still doesn't know all the lyrics.
Despite not being a festival person, Denise joked she'll be there to cheer her son on though 'as VIP as possible.'
Their bond is stronger than ever now, but it wasn't always this way. Denise has spoken candidly about her struggles with alcohol and drug addiction, and the impact it had on her family.
'I did lots of things wrong. Matty and I had to have a come-to-Jesus about the things I was in denial about how my behaviour had impacted him,' she shared. 'But he also said, 'Then again, Mum, if our house wasn't a bit rock and roll, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing'.'
Denise also opened up about suffering postnatal depression after Matty was born. Just days after bonding with her newborn, she spiralled into panic attacks and numbness.
'I couldn't love anything. I felt nothing,' she recalled. 'I didn't hate the child, I didn't want anything to happen to him. It was just like, why is this child here?'
With the support of her own mother, she was eventually able to rebuild that connection. Years later, Matty would write She Lays Down, a song inspired by her experience.
'I told him when he was older that depression robbed me of the ability to love, and I used to lay down on the bedroom floor and pray for the ability to love my children again,' she said.
These days, Denise regularly shares her pride for Matty and the band, reflecting on how far they've come - from teenage gigs in their garage to the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. And after everything they've faced together, their bond is stronger than ever, with Denise cheering the loudest from the VIP section as her son takes his biggest stage yet.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Glastonbury 2025: Sunday with Olivia Rodrigo's headline set plus the Prodigy, Rod Stewart and more
Update: Date: 2025-06-30T00:28:15.000Z Title: Woodsies', ' Content: The festival reached its final day with standout sets from Wolf Alice, Turnstile, Joy Crookes and more Ben Beaumont-Thomas (now); Shaad D'Souza and Elle Hunt (earlier) Mon 30 Jun 2025 01.04 BST First published on Sun 29 Jun 2025 12.13 BST 1.04am BST 01:04 Ben Beaumont-Thomas Alexis was rightly and totally blown away by Olivia Rodrigo, calling her set the best big one of the festival. Here's his five-star rave: That is everything for tonight, and indeed this year – thanks so much for following all of our nonsense here. Devastated to report that it's a fallow year next year, so we'll see you in 2027? Updated at 1.28am BST 11.58pm BST 23:58 Gwilym Mumford This is the Prodigy's fourth appearance at Glastonbury, but as Maxim says in a brief respite from the pummelling blast beats of Voodoo People, it should be their fifth. On the eve of their 2019 booking Keith Flint was found dead at his home in Essex. 'Six years ago we lost our brother. This is his night,' Maxim declares. Flint looms large at this year's festival – head over to Joe Rush's Carhenge and you'll see his menacing grin adorning the bonnet of an upturned muscle car. But in tonight's set he is positioned as a very visible absence: a silhouette, instantly recognisable by the two devilish points above the temples, is pinned to the giant screens by green lasers. On a reimagined Firestarter his vocals are winnowed down to a single repeated 'I'm a firestarter', Flint haunting the track rather than dominating it as he once did. And on Breathe his vocals in the chorus are omitted, with the crowd stepping in instead. Flint's absence is counterbalanced by a whole lot more Maxim, here playing the role of MC, compere and chief cajoler, shepherding crowds through the different eras of the band's 35 year career, from the saucer-eyed hardcore techno of Jilted Generation to the rocky EDM of Invaders Must Die. A word for the Other stage. It has received a glow up this year, with giant hi-def screens added, as well as a new lighting rig. It now is probably the best place to watch music at Glastonbury: every performance I've seen here has felt immersive and massive. That's particularly true for the Prodigy and their retina-singing light show, with meandering lasers and walls of glitching graphics. The spectacle seems to filter down to the audiences too, who have seemed up for it – bordering on unhinged – all weekend. There's a sprit of the bacchanal tonight. Weed fug and pyro smoke hovers above the crowd of, as Maxim calls them 'Prodigy warriors': loud, unruly, boozy (and the rest). As the crowd skanks and sways to the boinging central refrain from Out of Space, Maxim surveys the scene and declares: 'I think Mr Flint would have have been proud of you.' Updated at 1.12am BST 11.44pm BST 23:44 David Levene going full Andreas Gursky with this shot of the boomer hordes for Rod Stewart. Bravo! 11.33pm BST 23:33 Jason Okundaye WoodsiesJorja Smith is welcomed on with an orchestral flourish – rhythmic percussion and escalating strings as the visuals conjure a stage on fire. Last month, the singer began her first UK tour since 2018. Back then she was 21, and riding high off her debut album's Brit awards gong, Mercury nomination and Grammy nomination for best new artist. But she has switched down the gears towards a slower pace of life, moving from London back to her birthplace Walsall in 2023. Here, at one of the last sets of Glastonbury, she can flex how she's developed and progressed away from the flashing lights. Smith has won fans for a smoky, honeyed voice that has remained agile, elegant and restrained – though sometimes that restraint is to a fault. On the opening number, Try Me, she is drowned out by her band and, with a vocal style that is often legato, it can be hard to hear what she's saying. There is a fine line, after all, between vocal elegance and repression. Yet this issue quickly melts away, particularly when the familiar hits come out – Blue Lights and Addicted are such phenomenal tracks, sexy and subtle and bringing out gorgeous moments of vocal layering with her backing singer which provide more lyrical clarity and a fitting sense of ensemble. Her male backing singer comes out for a duet on Feelings – Smith is so adoring of him and they sound fantastic together, but it also feels like a humble and mature embrace of how introducing different, distinct vocal tones can accentuate a performance. Initially, you do wonder if this set might become dull, and how she can maintain the audience for an hour and 15 minutes of slower, mellow tones that might not be the vibe for a Sunday late-night billing. Yet Smith is adaptable. Go Go Go reaches for Afropop, while Popcaan collaboration Come Over embraces dancehall. This scope is complemented by her band who are truly fantastic – her bassist can provide mellow moments of cool R&B, but equally they can ascend into rollicking crescendos and grundy indie rock type segments. This set really reaches its peak during the more fun, funky and decidedly unrelaxed segments. She brings out AJ Tracey for both a cover of his hit Ladbroke Grove and their recent collaboration, Crush. I have to say, Tracey performs much better here than he had just two hours ago on the same stage. Perhaps this is because there is no backing track to rely on, and there is a wonderful, almost sibling-like fondness between the two artists. But it's when the basslines and syncopated rhythms of UK garage emerge that you really see Smith as a national darling, one equally capable of jumping on new sounds while resurrecting past genres with finesse; of course, funky electronic garage track Little Things, which reintroduced Smith to the world in 2023, plays that part. But there is also The Way I Love You and Preditah collaboration On My Mind, which feel more befitting of the dark Woodsies stage and the late-night billing. You could imagine it going off at Glastonbury's various nightlife venues; hopefully I'll hear some of this set, the pitch faders mixing up the arrangement at Block9 later. Updated at 11.45pm BST 11.15pm BST 23:15 Safi Bugel At one point, the Maccabees had a generation of people in a chokehold. The London indie band were so prolific they can't even remember exactly how many times they've played at Glastonbury before. But after 14 years and four albums, they announced their hiatus in 2016, with a farewell tour the following year. Back in October, they teased their comeback; tonight's show is one of their first public performances in eight years. It's a high-energy, emotion-heavy experience on both sides of the barrier as they shuttle back through time via all of their best hits. At one point, the band acknowledge that they – and likely most of tonight's audience – are now a decade older, so they ask them to jump along, but only if they want to. Of course, they do. The boisterous excitement from the crowd of thirtysomethings doesn't waver, through the urgent, full-bodied end of their discography (Latchmere, X-Ray, Marks to Prove It, etc) to the more quaint moments, like the sweetheart ditty Toothpaste Kisses, which is met with a rapturous singalong. As with any reunion, it's a shamelessly indulgent trip down memory lane – to the band's heyday, yes, but also to a significant time in British indie music more generally. Special guest Florence Welch joins them on stage for Love You Better and a rowdy performance of Dog Days Are Over. After closing with the punchy fan favourite Pelican, the band hug one another on stage. When they say that this show means the world to them, you can tell they mean it. Updated at 11.33pm BST 11.03pm BST 23:03 Ben Beaumont-Thomas To court us a little more, Olivia's cracked out her Union Jack pants for – paradoxically – All-American Bitch. She's also done the Flaming Lips thing of chucking out loads of massive white balls into the audience. Then it's into the second-best Olivia song: Good 4 U. This song features such a good actorly performance: the proper bunny boiler pressing her face against the double glazing to tell her ex about how she's really totally fine about their breakup. It's cartoonishly heightened and silly – but also there's real venom, and this is a definitely a story with two sides: what's this guy done? Then it's Get Him Back! and a ton of fireworks crackling over a wonderfully overwrought guitar solo. 'This is a dream come true,' she tells this jubilant crowd. 'Goodnight!' But it's not goodnight from us just yet – stick around for a load more reviews, pics and more. Updated at 11.13pm BST 11.00pm BST 23:00 Our photographer Alicia Canter has been down in the pit for Olivia Rodrigo and come back with some killer shots. 10.55pm BST 22:55 Ben Beaumont-Thomas Ooh, it's my fave Olivia song, Deja Vu. It sits right in the heart of the Venn diagram of her songwriting – bit of bruised heartbreak, bit of guitar bite, bit of dream-pop – and it's about such a specific horrifying situation: seeing your ex playing through the same cute things you did together, this time with a new partner. Which has the effect of retroactively cancelling them out for you and making you think: wait, who had they already done them with before me? And it's a dilemma that you might not have come across pre social media, but now romances are played out in public, these new weird horrors seep into culture. It's an example of how Rodrigo, not even out of her teens when she recorded this, is so perceptive about affairs of the heart. Updated at 10.56pm BST 10.47pm BST 22:47 Ben Beaumont-Thomas Jorja Smith is raving up a storm and doing some oo-a oo-a's, while Overmono have hit a relatively lower tempo zone, running through some tech-y reggaeton. And the Prodigy are keeping everything 100. 'We are the noise makers,' Maxim promises. 'Anyone brings as much noise as this? I'll retire … We're waking up the whole of England!' They build up Smack My Bitch Up from its constituent parts, adding gigantic cock-rock riffs on the way to that gleefully obnoxious vocal hook – demurely covered over for the BBC but with the crowd emphatically filling in. More pics from our Jonny here: Updated at 10.49pm BST 10.41pm BST 22:41 Ben Beaumont-Thomas Like Noah Kahan before her, Olivia is doing some shameless courting of us Brits. 'I love England so fucking much,' she says. 'It's bands like the Cure that first got me acquainted with England … I have so many things I love about England, I love pop culture, I love how nobody judges you for having a pint at noon, it's the best. I love English sweets, all the sweets from M&S, Colin the Caterpillar specifically.' Invoking Colin genuinely makes English people giddy. Pray continue. 'True story: I have had three sticky toffee puddings since coming to Glastonbury. And as luck would have it, I love English boys.' It's all teeing up So American, made from the inside jokes she had with an English lover. Updated at 10.45pm BST 10.29pm BST 22:29 Ben Beaumont-Thomas The special guests are coming out. With the Maccabees up on the Park – which I'm basically ignoring because life is too short – it's Florence Welch. AJ Tracey has come back out to join Jorja Smith. And with Olivia Rodrigo, it's Robert Smith from the Cure. 'He is perhaps the best songwriter to come out of England, he is a Glastonbury legend and a personal hero of mine,' she says. They launch into a sweet-natured and extra-melancholy duet of Friday I'm in Love, trading lines back and forth. Then they join together in a wonderful pairing for the climactic chorus, their voices so totally different and yet chiming together. 'The dads chaperoning 13 year old daughters properly doing their nut near us hahahaha', Alexis Petridis texts to me. Robert sticks around for another one: Just Like Heaven, in which he takes the lead on verse one, with Olivia taking verse two – she's more doleful and wary than the more romantic and caution-throwing Robert. The way they bring out new and different shades to these songs is one of the greatest treats of this year's festival. Updated at 10.37pm BST 10.28pm BST 22:28 Ben Beaumont-Thomas Olivia Rodrigo is just 22 years old, by the way – which puts her way up the league table of youngest headliners. Billie Eilish was just 20 when she did her own set in 2022, though as Ash reminded us during their set this weekend, actually it was them who were the very youngest when they were drafted in to replace Steve Winwood in 1997. Updated at 10.48pm BST
South Wales Guardian
3 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Olivia Rodrigo performs The Cure songs with Robert Smith during Glastonbury set
As the 66-year-old indie-goth star arrived on stage on Sunday night, Rodrigo said: 'Glastonbury, would you please welcome Robert Smith, give him a big welcome, come on.' Smith wore a sparkly black shirt and eye shadow, and played a black acoustic guitar as he traded vocals with Rodrigo on the two tracks. At the end of Just Like Heaven, the pair hugged, before Rodrigo said 'give it up for Robert Smith you guys', adding she was 'so honoured to play with him tonight'. The 22-year-old started her set with Obsessed from 2023's Guts album as fireworks exploded around her. The singer shouted 'Glastonbury, what a f****** party' as she performed the song bathed in purple light and wearing a white dress and black boots, playing a cherry red guitar. Towards the end of her set, the Californian singer swapped her white dress for a T-shirt which read 'you know all the words to Just Like Heaven, or do you?', along with a sparkly pair of shorts featuring the Union flag as she played Brutal. The Ballad Of A Homeschooled Girl, one of Rodrigo's best known songs, prompted pogoing from the Worthy Farm crowd, as the singer bounced around singing the song's 'it's social suicide' chorus. As she went to perform at a piano, Rodrigo said: 'How are we doing tonight Glastonbury? I don't think I've ever seen so many people in my life. 'Guys, it's the last night of the festival. Are you ready to have some fun?' She then performed another of her best known songs in Driver's Licence, as parents in the crowd lifted their children on to their shoulders. At one point in the set, Rodrigo had the majority of the crowd hoisting their phone lights above their heads and swaying from side to side. Good 4 U saw white balloons thrown into the energetic crowd, before she finished with Get Him Back! sitting on scaffolding and singing the song through a loudhailer, before shouting 'good night' as fireworks exploded around her. Earlier in the day, Sir Rod Stewart was joined by a trio of veteran superstars during a rousing performance in the tea-time legends slot. He played alongside his former Faces bandmate Ronnie Wood, Simply Red's Mick Hucknall and Scottish singer Lulu. He was also joined by the festival's founder, Sir Michael Eavis, who was wheeled on to the stage by his daughter, organiser Emily Eavis. Hucknall, 65, was welcomed on stage for a rendition of Simply Red hit If You Don't Know Me By Now. Rolling back the years, Sir Rod then performed the Faces' 1971 hit Stay With Me while Rolling Stones star Wood, 78, played guitar. Lulu then made her entrance, wearing an all-white ensemble, to sing Hot Legs alongside Sir Rod and Wood. Bagpipes had signalled the arrival of Sir Rod, who kicked off his afternoon performance with his 1981 single, Tonight I'm Yours (Don't Hurt Me). 'I'm here, enjoy yourselves ladies and gentleman please, music brings us together, we need music,' he told the crowd. The 80-year-old, who recently cancelled a series of shows while recovering from flu, wore flared trousers, a white shirt and a black jacket, before changing into a green suit. He played songs including Some Guys Have All The Luck, Forever Young, The First Cut Is The Deepest, and Maggie May, which he performed from a runway jutting out into the crowd. Ukrainian flags were shown on a screen behind Sir Rod, who said: 'There's been a lot about the Middle East recently, quite rightly so, but I want to draw your attention to Ukraine in the next song, it's called the Love Train.' The singer also sang I'd Rather Go Blind, which he first performed in the 1970s with the Faces, which he said he had learned from late Fleetwood Mac singer Christine McVie, who the song was dedicated to. During Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? Sir Rod's backing singers kicked footballs into the crowd in reference to the singer's famous Top Of The Pops appearance in 1971. Sir Rod donned a captain's hat to finish with Sailing, while his dancers wore the shirt of Celtic FC, while the back of his own shirt featured the team's name.
Glasgow Times
3 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
BBC under pressure amid criticism of ‘death to the IDF' chants at Glastonbury
Rapper Bobby Vylan, of rap punk duo Bob Vylan, on Saturday led crowds on the festival's West Holts Stage in chants of 'Free, free Palestine' and 'Death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)'. A member of Belfast rap trio Kneecap suggested fans 'start a riot' at his bandmate's forthcoming court appearance related to a terrorism charge. Responding to the chants from Bob Vylan, the Prime Minister said: 'There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech. 'I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence. 'The BBC needs to explain how these scenes came to be broadcast.' A member of Kneecap said 'f*** Keir Starmer' during their performance after the Prime Minister called for the band not to play at the festival. Avon and Somerset Police said video evidence from the performances would be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation. Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis said Bob Vylan's chants 'very much crossed a line'. 'We are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence,' she said in a statement. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said Bob Vylan was 'inciting violence and hatred' and should be arrested and prosecuted. 'By broadcasting his vile hatred, the BBC appear to have also broken the law,' he said. 'I call on the Police to urgently investigate and prosecute the BBC as well for broadcasting this. Our national broadcaster should not be transmitting hateful material designed to incite violence and conflict,' he posted on X. Health Secretary Wes Streeting called it a 'pretty shameless publicity stunt' and said the BBC and Glastonbury have 'questions to answer about how we saw such a spectacle on our screens', speaking to Sky News. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the scenes 'grotesque'. 'Glorifying violence against Jews isn't edgy. The West is playing with fire if we allow this sort of behaviour to go unchecked,' she wrote on X. Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said she was 'horrified' and that the BBC should have cut the feed. 'Given the nature of the attacks on Israel, the BBC should not have kept broadcasting that. They should have cut the coverage immediately,' she told Times Radio. Liberal Democrat culture, media and sport spokesman Max Wilkinson said: 'Bob Vylan's chants at Glastonbury yesterday were appalling. Cultural events are always a place for debate, but hate speech, antisemitism and incitements to violence have no place at Glastonbury or anywhere in our society.' Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has spoken to the BBC director general about Bob Vylan's performance, a Government spokesperson said. The BBC said it showed a warning during the performance and that viewers would not be able to access it on demand. Bob Vylan performing on the West Holts Stage (Ben Birchall/PA) A spokesperson for the broadcaster said: 'Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan's set were deeply offensive. 'During this live stream on iPlayer, which reflected what was happening on stage, a warning was issued on screen about the very strong and discriminatory language. 'We have no plans to make the performance available on demand.' The Israeli embassy said it was 'deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival'. The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said it would be formally complaining to the BBC over its 'outrageous decision' to broadcast Bob Vylan. 'Our national broadcaster must apologise for its dissemination of this extremist vitriol, and those responsible must be removed from their positions,' a spokesperson said. Bob Vylan, who formed in Ipswich in 2017, have released four albums addressing issues to do with racism, masculinity and class. Bobby Vylan's real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, 34, according to reports. He is listed on Companies House as the director of Ghost Theatre Records, which is operated by Bob Vylan. Kneecap performing on the West Holts Stage (Yui Mok/PA) Kneecap have been in the headlines after member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence. The group performed after Vylan's set on the West Holts Stage with O hAnnaidh exclaiming 'Glastonbury, I'm a free man' as they took to the stage. In reference to his bandmate's forthcoming court date, Naoise O Caireallain, who performs under the name Moglai Bap, said they would 'start a riot outside the courts', before clarifying: 'No riots, just love and support, and support for Palestine.' In the run-up to the festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset, several politicians called for the group to be removed from the line-up and Sir Keir said their performance would not be 'appropriate'. During Kneecap's set, O hAnnaidh said: 'The prime minister of your country, not mine, said he didn't want us to play, so f*** Keir Starmer.' Kneecap also gave a 'big thank you to the Eavis family' and said 'they stood strong' amid calls for the organisers to drop them from the line-up. A BBC spokesperson said an on-demand version of Kneecap's performance was available on iPlayer. 'We have edited it to ensure the content falls within the limits of artistic expression in line with our editorial guidelines and reflects the performance from Glastonbury's West Holts Stage. As with all content which includes strong language, this is signposted with appropriate warnings.'
