Taylor Swift can’t hide her smile as she leaves studio session with Matty Healy  

Matty Healy is the lead singer of the British band The 1975, who not only battled heroin addiction, but was also expelled from school for fighting, smokes big joints in interviews and is generally better known for sex and drugs than rock ‘n -roll.

Healy has a unique take on being famous, having grown up as a child of famous – now divorced – parents.

His father Tim Healy is best known for his role in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and his mother Denise Welch was famous growing up for her role in Soldier Soldier.

She even had a (short) singing career and released a single that almost made the top 20. In 1997 she was cast in Coronation Street and the family moved from Northumberland to Manchester.

At the time, Welch was suffering from depression and was on medication with alcohol and drugs, although she has been clean for some time.

Healy met his The 1975 bandmates – Adam Hann, Ross MacDonald and George Daniel – at Wilmslow High School in Cheshire, where they were all ‘misfits’.

Bad Boy: Healy is the lead singer of British band The 1975, who not only battled heroin addiction, but was also expelled from school for fighting, smokes fat joints in interviews, and is generally better known for sex and drugs than rock- ‘n roll

They rehearsed at Healy’s house, which was teeming with famous people, including Ringo Starr, Mark Knopfler, Rick Wakeman, and AC/DC’s Brian Johnson (who happens to be his godfather).

He told an interviewer, “I’d play a guitar in the house, not knowing it belonged to him.” [Dire Straits’] Romeo and Juliet.’

One night, after hearing him play, prog rock legend Rick Wakeman pulled him aside and told him he had “it.”

His father Tim once said to him: ‘Music is in your bones. You are the reincarnation of John Lennon. It’s in you.’

Despite the support of his parents, the band struggled to get signed by a label.

Healy even dabbled in an acting career, making a cameo appearance in the BBC school drama Waterloo Road, which also starred his mother.

The band released four EPs before releasing their self-titled debut album The 1975 in 2013, which topped the UK Albums Chart.

Following this success, they released four consecutive albums, won four Brit awards and played Glastonbury three times.

He missed his mother’s wedding to recording artist Lincoln Townley in 2013 as the band supported the Rolling Stones on tour.

Famous Parents: His father Tim Healy is best known for his role in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and his mother Denise Welch was famous growing up for her role in Soldier Soldier; seen the family in 1995

Band: Healy met his The 1975 bandmates – Adam Hann, Ross MacDonald and George Daniel – at Wilmslow High School in Cheshire, where they were all ‘misfits’; seen in March 2023

Success: The band released four EPs before releasing their self-titled debut album The 1975 in 2013, which topped the UK Albums Chart; seen in 2017

By the time he was 25, he was talking about a minor heroin addiction and a bigger cocaine addiction before he became famous, claiming they were overcome.

But in the summer of 2017, the rest of the band staged an intervention and told him to go to rehab for drinking, heroin, and opiate use.

He flew to Barbados and spent eight weeks in rehab, including equine therapy.

He said of his horse mentor, “I wanted to impress it more than any human being I’ve ever met. There were so many qualities that I envied in this horse. And he had great hair.’

More recently, he lives in West London and has a much quieter life. He has tried yoga and swimming and has tried to overcome the frequent migraines he suffers.

But, having fallen for the world’s most visible female pop star, all that changed in the blink of an eye. The question is, to quote one of Taylor’s songs, are they ready? Or will it end quickly?