Katie Melua said family felt like they’d ‘won the lottery’ when they took refuge in Belfast
Singer Katie Melua has spoken of her experiences coming to Belfast as a refugee while promoting her new album.
In an interview with the Evening Standard, she said her family felt like they had “won the lottery” when they arrived in Belfast from Tbilisi, Georgia.
Katie was nine when her family came to Northern Ireland in the aftermath of civil war.
In her home country, she said “there was no electricity and no hot water” when her family fled.
Speaking previously to the Belfast Telegraph about her time in the city, she said: “I went to St Catherine’s Primary School on the Falls Road then I went to Fortwilliam Dominican College. I would get the train to that before I would walk to Broadway where I lived. It was amazing.”
She received an honorary degree from Queen’s University in 2014.
She recalled “videos of me at six or seven years old, laughing as I climb into old Soviet planes”. There was an abandoned airport near her grandmother’s house.
The singer also weighed in on Gary Lineker’s suspension from the BBC.
Lineker, 62, was briefly suspended as host of Match Of The Day this month over his criticism of the Government’s asylum policy on Twitter but returned to air following a boycott by top on-air talent at the broadcaster.
“There’s no doubt what Gary has said is right,” she said. “People shouldn’t be afraid to make their voices heard.”
“I’m no politician,” she continued, “but it’s obvious that no refugee ever leaves their country by choice.”
Her new album, Love and Money, is out on March 24.
