British musician Kate Nash opened up about the "ruckus" she caused in the UK over starting an OnlyFans account on Friday night's Late Late Show, telling host Patrick Kielty she has "a reputation for extreme measures".
The singer, known for her hit single Foundations, announced she was starting the OnlyFans account, a platform known for its adult content, last November in order to help subsidise her tour.
Nash, after performing her song Millions of Heartbeats and opening up about her Irish connections ("My mum was born in Dublin, she's from Ballymun"), told Kielty about the OnlyFans drama.
"I've been causing a bit of a ruckus over in the UK about the state of the music industry," she said.
When the presenter expressed surprise that someone as successful as Nash struggled to make a living making music, she replied: "The music industry is very exploitative. Any artist underneath stadium or arena level is really struggling to profit on tour and from their recorded music.
"It's become a bad state of affairs, the grassroots is in crisis, loads of venues are closing. And so when I was on tour in November, I hadn't toured properly since before Covid, so I was experiencing the financial pinch. It doesn't make financial sense to put out a record and tour in the same year, which I think is a disgrace."
Kielty suggested she "took extreme measures".
"I do have a reputation for extreme measures," Nash said with a smile. "So I started a campaign called Butts for Tour Buses, I started an OnlyFans account.
"It's a punk protest, it's a genuine concern, I was losing so much money on tour. I started the OnlyFans and I'm making more money now from my arse than my music."
She continued: "Obviously there's a bit of a debate, but so many musicians have messaged me thanking me for speaking out. If I cannot make it work, and I have thousands of fans, millions of streams, I'm selling tickets... It's not coming from a place of negligence or delusion, I do have a career, I'm 19 years into my career."
Nash added: "Someone who is known well as an artist should be able to make it work, and if I can't, how is anyone underneath my level doing it at all?
"The truth is, they're closing the doors on access to a music career for working class people and anyone who isn't from a privileged background and I just don't think that's acceptable or fair.
"I want to see diversity in the art world and I think music is for everyone."
For more music news click here
.svg)