{"id":655209,"date":"2026-06-24T04:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T04:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/655209\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T04:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T04:30:12","slug":"placebo-cover-attitude-ahead-of-collecting-attitude-pride-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/655209\/","title":{"rendered":"Placebo cover Attitude ahead of collecting Attitude Pride Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

Placebo<\/a>\u2018s founding members Brian Molko<\/a> and Stefan Olsdal<\/a> are to appear on the cover of Attitude magazine almost three decades after hit song \u2018Nancy Boy\u2019 put them on the map, in an exclusive cover interview and shoot \u2013 the band\u2019s first in years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Released as the fourth single from Placebo\u2019s self-titled 1996 debut album, \u2018Nancy Boy\u2019 shot the band from cult curiosity to national consciousness. It became their first Top 5 hit, earned them an appearance on\u00a0Top of the\u00a0Pops\u00a0and introduced a mainstream audience to a group that looked and sounded unlike\u00a0almost anything\u00a0else in British music at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read next<\/p>\n

For a lot of queer people, \u2018Nancy Boy\u2019 was a gateway drug not just to Placebo, but to the possibility that there might be another way to be. For others, it was the first time they had heard a song toy so openly with sexuality,\u00a0gender\u00a0and identity. In recent years it has become something else entirely: a call to arms, a protest song and, in countries hostile to LGBTQ+ rights, an act of defiance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PlaceboPlacebo on the cover of Attitude magazine issue 371 (Image: Attitude\/Mads Perch)<\/p>\n

It remains the song most closely associated with Placebo and helped establish them as one of Britain\u2019s most influential alternative bands, with a career spanning eight studio albums, 14 UK Top 40 singles, more than 14 million records sold worldwide \u2013 and now a Pride Icon Award at the 2026 PEUGEOT\u00a0Attitude\u00a0PRIDE Awards Europe, supported by British Airways<\/a>. The award will be presented to the band on Friday 3 July at The Chancery Rosewood in London\u2019s Mayfair, at a charity lunch event hosted by broadcaster Emma Willis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, \u2018Fuck it.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0going to reclaim all these insults\u201d \u2013 Brian Molko on writing \u2018Nancy Boy\u2019<\/p>\n

\"BrianBrian Molko and Stefan Olsdal of Placebo (Image: Attitude\/Mads Perch)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like we\u2019re receiving an award for 30 years of fearless representation,\u201d says\u00a0Brian\u00a0Molko\u00a0on the band\u2019s Attitude Pride Awards<\/a> nod.\u00a0\u201cTo receive this recognition for me is\u00a0really very\u00a0moving. It means we\u2019ve done some good in this world.\u201d\u00a0 Stefen\u00a0Olsdal is more succinct:\u00a0\u201cWe never hid.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the inspiration behind \u2018Nancy Boy\u2019,\u00a0Brian Molko says:\u00a0\u201cAfter\u00a0maybe the\u00a0fourth or fifth time a stranger called me a \u2018Nancy boy\u2019 in a pub, I thought, \u2018Fuck it.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0going to reclaim all these insults.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0going to write a song about how a bisexual person can have so much more fun than you. Has so many more options than you. So much more freedom than you.\u2019\u00a0Look at how much fun I can have. I\u2019m taking your insult and making it mine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Asked what he would say to a young queer person in 2026,\u00a0Brian\u00a0Molko\u00a0says:\u00a0\u201cThere are far more people out there like you, going through what you\u2019re going through, than you could ever imagine. Find your tribe. Find your community. And never let anybody stop you from being yourself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Olsdal smiles, adding:\u00a0\u201cAnd turn it up loud. Loud and proud. Nobody needs to hide. You\u2019re not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Placebo\u2019s full interview will appear in issue 371 of Attitude magazine, on sale in print and digital on 3 July. Pre-order Attitude magazine issue 371<\/a> in print now, or in digital on the links below on Apple News+<\/a> and the Attitude app<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Placebo\u2018s founding members Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal are to appear on the cover of Attitude magazine almost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[187419,96,128,220109,52604,220110,220111,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-655209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-brian-molko","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-peugeot-attitude-pride-awards-europe-supported-by-british-airways","tag-placebo","tag-pride-awards","tag-stefan-olsdal","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}