Nadine Shah takes a stand against sexism not only in her songs. The British pop singer also has no qualms about confronting her music colleagues – even if it’s Adam Clayton. After calling the U2 bassist a “damn weirdo,” the artist is now apologizing for her choice of words.
On her December 5, 2021 tweet, Shah shared a clip from the documentary Phil Lynott: Songs For While I’m Away, responding to Clayton talking about Lynott’s work as bassist with Thin Lizzy in the film. “One thing you need to know about the bass is that it’s this big, heavy thing that hangs down between your legs,” the 63-year-old begins his interview.
But it was the second part of his explanation that particularly caught the musician’s attention: “The bass is the secret weapon. The strength comes from him. He’s in a groove with the drums – the drums and bass give you this nice, kind of sexy hip shake. And then all the other girly stuff comes on top, but we’re the men in the band,” Clayton says in the documentary. Nadine Shah, who plays guitar and piano, shared the clip on X and commented: “Adam Clayton is a f***ing weirdo. My ‘girl stuff’ doesn’t give a shit about what you do.”
Now the artist apologizes for her reaction and responds – about two years later – to her own tweet. “I was right, but my language was immature. I could have just pointed out the sexism and left it at that. I was very angry in 2021 and upset many of his fans, I’m sorry for that,” Shah wrote in an X post on November 16. But instead of deleting the post “in which I behaved like an asshole,” the singer accepts the criticism.
The musician already commented on the topic of sexism on her 2020 album “Kitchen Sink”. In her song “Trad,” Shah sings: “Shave my legs / Freeze my eggs / Will you want me when I am old,” alluding to the feminine ideal of beauty that is expected of women. The musician recently released the single “Topless Mother” and thus provides a foretaste of her new record “Filthy Underneath”, which will be released on February 23, 2024.