Lisa McHugh has admitted she hasn’t “had a single penny in six months”, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The country singer appeared on RTÉ Radio 1’s Today with Claire Byrne this afternoon, alongside fellow singers Nathan Carter and Mike Denver.
The musicians came on the show to talk about how the coronavirus pandemic has affected their careers, as they urged the Irish Government to support the entertainment industry.
During the show, Lisa explained that she took time off last year to focus on songwriting, and that she had big things planned for her comeback in 2020.
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“I had this year filled with massive opportunities. I was supposed to be performing at the Electric Picnic for the first time, with Kaleidoscope [festival and the] Country to Country Festival in London,” she said.
“And I was also supposed to be supporting Tom Jones. So it was a huge year for me, and I was more than ready to come back.”
“You know, Country to Country was literally the weekend it all started. That was the beginning of lockdown; it was the first show for me that was cancelled.”
Lisa continued: “The thing is, that so many industries and so many sectors were able to and are able to work from home and continue to get that living and pay the bills… I personally have not had a single penny in six months.”
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“That, you know, is worrying, because we have no indication whatsoever for the foreseeable as to when we can go back and do our jobs properly – and to the extent that we actually need to.”
“There are companies like EPIC [Events Production Industry COVID-19 Working Group] who are working incredibly hard for our industry,” she said.
“They’re pushing budgets and things and they literally just announced one last night. In order to gain support, I did a show for them, Songs from an Empty Room, there in July. It was all about raising awareness for our industry, because I do feel the spotlight has definitely not come on our industry enough.”
Lisa, Nathan and Mike spoke on RTÉ Radio 1 amid the Live Entertainment and Event Industry National Awareness Week, which runs until September 20.
#ThisIsWhoWeAre pic.twitter.com/qejF0KKX28
— Lisa McHugh (@LisaMcHughx) September 15, 2020
