You may remember Welsh singer Charlotte Church as the classical music vocal prodigy who rose to fame in her adolescence circa 2000. The pristine soprano released her debut album Voice of an Angel at age 12, and her star burned brightly for several years following its release. In 1999 she performed for President Bill Clinton. She went on to perform at George W. Bush’s first inauguration in 2001, a moment she says in retrospect was not her “proudest,” according to an interview she gave to The Guardian. But now, at age 30, Church is standing up for herself and her decision to vehemently turn down an invitation to perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration.
In response to the invite, Church, who’s Twitter feed consists of plenty of anti-Trump material, Tweeted:
In fact, Church is right, a quick Google search turns up a thoughtful interview with her that ran on New Statesman in mid-December in which she expounds on identity politics, the status of the angry white man, Brexit, and Donald Trump.
“And so much of it, as with this dude [jabs Trump], is schoolroom stuff. How easily offended he is, and how volatile,” Church told New Statesmen about the president-elect “How do you deal with a child who is angry?”
While Church’s career may not be on the soaring trajectory of her early fame, she’s remained in the public eye, recording music in a more pop vein while raising her now seven and nine-year-old children since her split from Welsh Rugby player Gavin Henson.
Beyond maintaining a career and a family she’s got a long history of activism, including chairing a conversation with members of the Russian feminist/punk group Pussy Riot at the Glastonbury Festival, and she sang “This Bitter Earth” outside the Shell Centre in London as part of a month-long protest against the oil giant that was organized by Greenpeace.
Good for Church for standing by her principles and blatantly refusing to perform for Trump.
