Beth Ditto ignores criticism

Beth Ditto doesn't care what people think about her.

The Gossip frontwoman has become as famous for her celebrity friends as for her music in recent years, but Beth has a bullish attitude to those who think she is losing her musical identity.

She said: "I was always afraid of losing part of myself, of people trying to control me. That was frightening. But I was never afraid of what people might think. But then, you can't join the punk scene if you're scared of what people think."

Beth - who has shown off her plus-sized figure in numerous magazine shoots - believes she is making a difference to people's lives with her music and art.

She told The Guardian newspaper: "I feel like I've made a difference for certain people and that's what matters. Growing up with riot grrrl (feminist punk movement), I feel like I owe it to the me of tomorrow - without sounding too ridiculous - to do this. The people who listened to Gossip when they were 14, they're 20 now and it's no longer cool but when they're 30 they can look back and think, 'I listened to The Gossip and it was really helpful,' and that will be how Bikini Kill or Nirvana were for me."