American musician Moby has returned to the stage more than 10 years after his last tour for one very good reason.
The 59-year-old star, best known for hits like Porcelain and Natural Blues, shot to fame in the early 90s and became an important figure in dance music.
But while he’s a six-time Grammy winner and landed eight top-10 tracks on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in the 1990s, he has become more recognisable in recent years due to his staunch animal rights activism.
Having been vegan for the past 37 years, Moby, real name Richard Melville Hall, has been vocal about his dislike of animal cruelty, calling those who wear fur ‘disgusting, unnecessary and tacky’, as well as getting tattoos that reiterate his beliefs.
Now, he has opened up about how those values led him to agree to a tour more than ten years after his last.
Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, he revealed that the only reason he said yes to the shows was a realisation his manager had.
‘For years, my manager has been trying to get me to tour, throwing out ideas of having a payday or the glamour of being onstage,’ he said.
‘He realised the only thing I couldn’t say no to was giving all the money away to animal rights organisations. The irony is the only way to get me on tour is to make sure I don’t make a penny from it.’
It’s also good timing for the star, who announced the tour in March, stating that it coincides with the 25th anniversary of his fifth studio album, Play.
‘It’s been over 10 years since I’ve toured, but someone reminded me that 2024 is the 25th anniversary of the release of ‘Play’, so it seemed like it might not be the worst idea to do a short European tour to commemorate and celebrate,’ he said in a statement.
He added: ‘What makes the tour most exciting for me is that I won’t be paid anything. 100 per cent of my profits will go to European animal rights organisations.’
Moby’s passion for animal rights is no secret as the star has even brand himself with his beliefs through tattoos.
His boldest are two arm tattoos which he debuted in 2019 and read ‘Animal Rights’, one word on each arm in thick black ink.
Others include one on his neck, which clearly reads: ‘Vegan for life’ and another on the opposite side saying: ‘Protect the innocent, defend the vulnerable’.
Elsewhere, Moby has a small ‘V’ for veganism written over an ‘X’, which means ‘straight edge’, under his right eye. The X refers to his drug and alcohol abstinence.
In 2019, he told fans on Instagram: ‘Straight edge because I simply can’t be a good activist if i’m lying in bed sick & hungover until 5pm every day,’ he explained at the time.
‘And of course vegan because i care about animals, human health, climate change, rainforest deforestation, workers rights, water use, famine, and all of the other horrifying things that are the result of using animals for food.’