Grammy-nominated Kelli-Leigh slams UK music industry over 'lack of inclusivity'
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A former Britain's Got Talent singer has slammed festivals and the music industry for their lack of inclusivity in lineups, urging the industry to take more action. Kelli-Leigh Henry-Davila, 39, is an independent musician known for her hits, including uncredited vocals on Duke Dumont's chart-topping track I Got U and I Wanna Feel by Second City. She is also recognized for her credited vocals on the UK top 10 single More Than Friends by James Hype.
In an exclusive with The Mirror, Kelli-Leigh discussed the lack of inclusivity in the music industry. She explained: "I'm not going to be the first woman to talk about how they feel the sexism in the music industry has been. Also, being a woman of colour especially in the electronic and dance music space, that's definitely something I've spoken about and a lot of other women of colour, in dance, have spoken about it aswell.
"It's definitely not been a level playing field and been equal but I think what is positive is that it's being discussed more openly know and people are more open to realisation because if you just do the research and look at the stats and see how many artists are signed, you can see instantly how many of those are men, how many of those are women and amongst those women, how many of them are certain races and ethnicities and which music genres they're aligned with.
"I think it's pretty evident how it's been over the past years but what is good to see and positive to see is that other people are working on changing that. We've still got a way to go, but what is really positive is that people are making those steps and people are taking that on board. The music industry is looking at line-ups more, I know Jaguar from BBC has talked about the inclusivity rider for live shows. you've got to hope that more people take it on board.".
