Cee Lo Green has said that his new solo album was in part influenced by Gary Glitter.
Although Green acknowledges that Glitter is a paedophile, he told Q Magazine: “I’m very aware of the crimes (Glitter) committed so I would not like to have this misconstrued. But I appreciate the musical contribution and (what he did) sonically.”
Glitter was arrested for possession of child pornography in 1997 and was later jailed for child sex offences in Vietnam in 2006.
When initially asked about the influences on his new album, Green had said: “English pop like Gary Numan, The Human League and Duran Duran. It’s applying that to urban music and making it sound current again,” said Green. “I’m probably not supposed to say this, but for a while earlier in this project I had really got into Gary Glitter… It was singalong and raunchy rock ‘n’ roll.”
Last year, Cee Lo Green had charges of sexual battery against him rejected because of insufficient evidence. CNN reported that the singer was however charged with furnishing a woman with ecstasy.