In a recent interview, Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson answered questions about the band’s past, including their interactions with political figures and their accomplishments at the NME Awards. When asked which former Prime Minister wrote a scathing article about the band branding them “the weeds from Leeds,” Wilson correctly guessed Boris Johnson. Johnson also famously claimed he was an “epic softie,” a phrase that Wilson says he doesn’t understand but has incorporated into his Twitter bio.
The band’s hit song “I Predict a Riot” has had political implications beyond Johnson’s distaste for the band. In 2022, when politician Liz Truss gave her resignation speech, activist Steve Bray played the song almost drowning out her speech. Wilson praised the song, saying it “captured the way people were feeling.”
Wilson also spoke fondly of Girls Aloud, who covered Kaiser Chiefs’ “I Predict a Riot” during their Chemistry tour in 2006. Wilson corrected a question about the lyric change in the cover, saying it was changed to “borrow a pound for the bus home” instead of “borrow a pound for a condom.” Wilson said he loved the band and appreciated how they pushed Kaiser Chiefs to be better.
When asked which four bands Wilson beat for the Best Dressed award at the 2006 NME Awards, he jokingly dismissed the question, stating that he never actually received the award. However, he guessed Carl Barât, Alex Kapranos, the singer of Neils Children, and Ryan Jarman of The Cribs. Although he was close, Wilson’s triumph was over Brandon Flowers, Alex Kapranos, Liam Gallagher, and Pete Doherty.
Finally, Wilson was asked about a Kaiser Chiefs gig in New York where he introduced Mark Ronson onstage using the pseudonym “Saul Rosenbaum, our New York lawyer.” Wilson says he has no memory of the introduction but fondly remembers crowdsurfing to the bar during their performance of “The Angry Mob.” Wilson praised Ronson as fun to hang out with during their time making the album “Off With Their Heads” calling him “The Sleeping Millionaire” for his tendency to fall asleep in the studio after attending celebrity gatherings
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