• last month
Commenting on her fellow Wolverhampton native, Beverley Knight shared her thoughts on the death of Liam Payne who passed away on 16th October at the age of 31.

She was attending the Pride of Britain Awards 2024 at the Grosvenor Hotel in London. Report by Burtonj. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Transcript
00:00Thank you so much for your time.
00:01It's my pleasure.
00:02Welcome to the Pride Britain Awards 2021.
00:04I don't know if you've been here before but-
00:06Many times.
00:07There you go, are you looking forward to the night of being inspired, perhaps shedding
00:10a few tears?
00:11I am, and I am absolutely gutted to say that I forgot to put on waterproof mascara.
00:20It's good that we're talking to you on the way in as opposed to the way out then I guess.
00:24Absolutely, I will be a mess on the way out.
00:27However, it's not about what I look like, it's about those wonderful people who we're
00:31going to celebrate and honour tonight and 25 years of this is just, it's tantamount
00:37to the brilliant people that exist all around us in this great nation of ours that we've
00:44got 25 years and probably another 25 to go so it's fabulous.
00:48I love being here.
00:49It's a night where we get inspired with the stories of the UK public but who inspired
00:54you this year?
00:55Oh my god, there's so many glorious people.
01:00I will say Dawn Butler, why would I say Dawn Butler, probably a surprise to you.
01:07She has been resilient in the face of some pretty shocking abuse on social media and
01:15she stayed, she's obviously spoken up for herself but as the kids say, she's kept it
01:23movie, she's kept it classy and I really admire her because I don't think I could.
01:28I kind of have to just log out, check out, you know, but she has the public persona and
01:34really manages to manage a lot of that stuff with grace and that's inspiring.
01:41I apologise for changing the tone slightly but as a legend of the music industry, I'd
01:45like your take on the recent news about Liam Payne and there's obviously been a big reaction
01:50amongst his fans, a big vigil held for him in Hyde Park recently but is there anything
01:55to say about that event and the state of the music industry at the moment?
02:02Liam was a Wolverhamptoner so I kept an eye on what he was doing and to see a lad so young
02:12with so much going for him to the outside world and to see where the other side of fame
02:21took him has broken my heart.
02:28We need more care for young people in the music industry.
02:32He was initially 14, 15 when he started, the 1D lads were babies and, you know, as minors
02:41there should be so much more care, so much more attention.
02:47In theatre there are chaperones for kids until they reach the age of 18.
02:53We should have the same in music.
02:56Kids need to be protected.
02:58They cannot just be a means of, you know, making money or generating money.
03:07They cannot, they have to be protected.
03:09Their mental health has to be looked after first and foremost.
03:13That's so well said.
03:14Thank you so much for your time.
03:15That's wonderful to hear.
03:16My pleasure.
03:17Thank you so much.
03:18Cheers.
03:19I'm probably going to get a load of grief for that but I don't care, it's true.
03:21So there we go.

Recommended