“I’m not a jukebox”: Becky Hill responds after being booed at TRNSMT during surprise new music set
The UK artist played a secret 30-minute set at the Scottish festival this past weekend
Becky Hill has responded on social media after being booed during a surprise set of new music at TRNSMT.
The UK artist appeared as the surprise act on the Scottish festival’s King Tut’s stage last Friday (19th June), telling the crowd at the start that she was there to introduce fans to a "brand new era" for her music, referencing her forthcoming third album, 'REBECCA'.
A video circulating of the 30-minute set showed parts of the crowd leaving, while others booed after the singer revealed she would be performing a full set of unreleased music.
“I’ve got to a point in every artist’s life where we have to let go of the tunes you know me for and introduce you to a brand new fucking era,” Hill said. Responding to the crowd, she added: “It’s alright, you’ve got plenty of other artists to see here.”
At the end of the set, she appeased some fans by playing ‘Afterglow’, her 2013 collaborative single with Wilkinson, and 2023’s ‘Disconnect’, made with Chase & Status.
In an Instagram video shared a few days after TRNSMT, Hill addressed the fan reaction, saying: “I wanted to bring a new and exclusive 30-minute set of brand new music to the festival crowd, unannounced. I thought it would be a great opportunity to play the new music I’ve been working so hard on, and that I personally love so much.
“I’d firstly like to thank the team behind TRNSMT for giving me that stage, and also the crowd of people who you probably wouldn’t have seen online who stayed and danced with me right until the very end.”
She continued: “I’m not a jukebox, I’m an artist, and the tickets for TRNSMT weren’t sold on my name being a part of the line-up. And I wanted to do something new and artistically-driven. I don't really get that opportunity to do that in my career often at all. But trust me, when my name is on the poster, I’ll always sing the tunes that people know and love. I feel very grateful to have those records in my catalogue after 14 years of making them.”
The Bewdley-born chart topper will release her new album on 25th September. She shared the single, 'More! More! More!' in May.
Earlier this week, she was confirmed among the artists playing intimate sets at grassroots music venues in the UK next month for the Music Venue Trust’s new Everywhere At Once festival.
