Nellie McKay

Nellie McKay is an American-British singer and songwriter. She was born in London but grew up in Harlem, New York.

Nellie weaves her political views and ethics into her songwriting, singing about feminism, politics and animal rights. Her 2004 debut album, Get Away From Me, was critically acclaimed with the Guardian giving it a five-star review, and it remains Nellie’s most commercially successful album. Between 2004 and 2025, Nellie released 10 studio albums.

Why Nellie McKay is vegan

Nellie McKay is vegan for the animals.

Nellie McKay became an animal rights activist at the age of seven¹Satya. 2005. Singing in Tune: The Satya Interview with Nellie McKay. Available: http://www.satyamag.com/mar05/mckay.html [Accessed 3 June 2026]., and was highly influenced by her mother, who would take her to animal rights protests in New York when she was just two years old.²Allyn, B. 2008. Nellie McKay. Vegetarian Journal. Available: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2008issue4/2008_issue4_veggie_action.php [Accessed 9 September 2021]. Nellie has said that it took her “10-plus years” to switch from vegetarian to vegan but she finally made the change in 2004.³Satya. 2005. Singing in Tune: The Satya Interview with Nellie McKay. Available: http://www.satyamag.com/mar05/mckay.html [Accessed 3 June 2026].

Nellie McKay uses her celebrity status and music to advocate for animals at every opportunity, saying: “You try to make the world better through music. You try to share ideas. You try to change hearts and minds. Most people don’t want to make animals suffer—but most people do, because they eat them. I would hope on some level music can open a door, even a little bit, that otherwise would have been closed.”⁴Neal, C. 2010. NELLIE McKAY: Sharing ideas and changing hearts and minds, one vegan restaurant at a time. Available: https://mmusicmag.com/m/2011/08/nellie-mckay/ [Accessed 3 June 2026].

“I remember going to an animal rights protest at New York University and seeing photos of a monkey all hooked up to electric wires; it gave me an instant feeling of empathy. Everyone has true empathy; it just gets beat out of them.”⁵Allyn, B. 2008. Nellie McKay. Vegetarian Journal. Available: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2008issue4/2008_issue4_veggie_action.php [Accessed 9 September 2021].