Hucknall bemoans 'karaoke' music industry

Mick Hucknall has slammed the current state of the music industry by comparing it to a "karaoke competition".

The Simply Red singer, who last year dubbed Simon Cowell "slimy", said that the focus on talent has faded in recent times and been replaced with an obsession with celebrity.

"The people I admired were artists first and celebrities second. They were celebrities because of their talent," he told The Daily Telegraph.

"I've become allergic to what's happened since the 1980s. There was a shift to fashion and to overlooking the ability of the person to achieve anything. We went into a zone of ordinariness.

"You can get tired of being in an industry that's basically become a karaoke competition."

Simply Red's final world tour comes to the UK in March.