BBC apologises after playing song with racial slur live on 6Music
Cover of ‘The Mississippi Shore’ by Scottish singer Thomas Fraser was played during Cerys Matthews’ Sunday morning radio show
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.BBC Radio 6 Music has issued an apology after a song containing a racial slur was aired during Cerys Matthews’ radio show.
The Welsh singer-songwriter hosts a morning show every Sunday and played a cover of “The Mississippi Shore” by Scottish singer Thomas Fraser during a broadcast on 19 July.
The song’s lyrics include the line: “I can hear them d*****s singing. I can hear the guitars play”.
Listeners soon complained about the song’s offensive content, with some sending messages to Matthews on social media.
In response, Matthews wrote on Twitter: “Checking now – it shouldn’t have passed through of course. It’s a huge priority for me. Thanks for heads up.”
In a follow-up tweet, the presenter continued: “It shouldn’t have got through. Trying to redact it now xx.”
Fraser was a Shetland-based fisherman and country music singer who died due to a sailing accident in 1978. He did not release any music during his lifetime, instead gaining small notoriety through the posthumous release of his personal recordings.
BBC Radio 6 said in a statement: “Unfortunately an unedited version of this song containing an offensive term was broadcast in error on 6 Music.”
“We apologise for any offence caused and will work to ensure this does not happen again.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments