Will Young discovers Facebook privacy settings the hard way

7 July 2017

Will Young was forced to change the privacy settings of his Facebook account after a fan message him to slam one of his performances.

Will Young

The 38-year-old musician has admitted he only created a profile on the social media site so he could link it to dating app Tinder, and after failing to understand the privacy settings, he mistakingly left his account open for people to contact him about his work.

Speaking during a performance at Spotify UK's London offices where he helped launch the #Pride month playlist, he said: "I went on Facebook to go on Tinder and I've never been on Facebook, so I didn't know about privacy settings or anything like that. So after the Hampton Court gig a fan messaged me, instant messaged me, I don't know how it works all I know is my mother is all over Facebook.

"And [the fan] said 'Why don't you do your own songs, I was really disappointed and I looked around and people were bored'. I was with my friend and I was like 'What a f***er!' So I wrote one back going 'Dear ..' I don't remember what her name was, 'Thank you so much for your message. I didn't ask you to message me, I didn't ask for your opinion, so f**k off!'

"And I screen grabbed it and sent it to my manager and said 'I think we need to change my settings before I lose all my following.'"

During his performance - in which he treated audiences to a rendition of Phil Collins' hit single 'In The Air Tonight', as well as his own track 'Jealousy' and a cover of John Martyn's 'One World' - Will took a moment to speak about his experiences with Pride month.

He said: "It's lovely to be here and celebrate Pride. I kinda thought I didn't really care about Pride that much but actually, particularly this year, it's sort of really come into the fold for me and I think that ... I heard someone say, and I've stolen the phrase for myself, that as a gay man and a member of the LGBQ+ society I actually feel like to be here I actually stand on the shoulders of giants who have done all the work. And it is really special, and it's really beautiful."