Glastonbury 2013: Arctic Monkeys Singer Alex Turner Responds To Accent Criticism
Arctic Monkeys lead singer, Alex Turner, has been reacting to the barrage of comments that criticised his accent change during his band’s Glastonbury headline set on Friday evening.
Turner, who hails from Sheffield, in Northern England, appears to have lost his natural accent, and it has been replaced with a United States one instead.
Various music fans took to Twitter to voice their discontent at his changed, with @garethdtaylor, stating, “Although a bit confused by Alex Turner’s new accent … #arcticmonkeys #glastonbury. He’s like Sheffield’s Elvis.”
Another commentor, @TheCSullivan, remarked, “Nobody seems to have mentioned Alex Turner’s weirdenheimer American accent at Glasto. Yet Joss Stone scuppered her career over the same thing.”
Other comments included, “Alex Turner’s voice/accent is odd,” “Since when did Alex turner have an American accent,” and “Watching the Glastonbury video of Arctic Monkeys from last night, is Alex Turner acting like a 50’s crooner for a bet? What’s that accent?”
Speaking to NME about his change in dialect, Turner admitted that he had already heard people’s thoughts, stating, “I’ve been pointing my hands for ages though! Maybe it’s just the quiff confusing people? Jo Whiley [BBC presenter] just said I was channeling my inner Elvis, but I dunno man. It’s not intentional!”
During a hectic Arctic Monkeys set, Turner and his bandmates belted out a number of their classic songs, including, “Fake Tales Of San Francisco,” “Dancing Shoes,” “R U Mine?” and “Brianstorm.”
He also found time to lead the crowd in a mass singalong of Happy Birthday for Turner’s mother, Penny. He stated to the crowd, “While I’ve got you, it’s actually my mum’s birthday today and she in in the crowd.”
They then sang Happy Birthday, and afterwards remarking, “Thank you very much – I appreciate that.” He also managed to sing snippets of David Bowie’s, “Soul Love,” Coldplay’s, “Yellow,” and Oasis’, “Don’t Look Back In Anger,” during the set too.
