Tricky has revealed that he turned down the offer of performing for the Queen as part of the Millennium Dome celebrations in 2000, stating he was unwilling to perform the gig for free.
In a new interview with The Independent, the Bristol-born artist explained the reason behind his decision: “The Queen wanted me to do the music for the 2000 celebrations at the Dome. I went down to these offices at Buckingham Palace and had a meeting with these people, and I was like, ‘Alright how much?’
“And they said, ‘Well no, it’s for the Queen.’ They thought because it’s such a huge thing, I’d do it for free! So I turned that down.”
The rapper, who released his last album ‘Uninform’ in 2017, also stated he doesn’t understand why people care about the monarchy. “She ain’t my queen,” he said in the interview. “My grandmother is my queen, and my auntie, my cousin, my daughters… the Queen’s never done anything for me. The royal family don’t mean nothing.”
Last month (October 8) Tricky announced details of his autobiography, Hell Is Round The Corner. The book – named after a song from his landmark record, ‘Maxinquaye’, which NME named the best album of 1995 – was released on October 31.
The accompanying trailer, which the artist directed, features shots of his hometown of Bristol, old childhood photographs, a snippet of performance footage and more. It’s soundtracked by his recently released collaboration with Marta, ‘Makes Me Wonder’. Watch it below.
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In August this year, Tricky also delivered a hard-hitting remix of Idles’ Colossus. The remix of the song features on a recent compilation called ‘Test Of Time’, released August 30 on Tricky’s own label False Idols.