Frank Turner - Frank Turner Hits Out At Olympics Critics

The songwriter performed at the Olympic stadium in London's Stratford on Friday (27Jul12) before the official ceremony began, prompting anger from some fans online.

But the star has defended himself as an independent musician, insisting he was proud to appear at such a major event.

He tells NME.com, "At the end of the day, I'm on an independent label. I still do everything myself, I still answer my own emails, I still tour my a**e off and I haven't changed anything about what I do. The world is literally full of people who are crouched in basements, waiting to start hating bands they used to like because too many people like them now, and I really have better things to do with my time than try and argue with those people.

"It was amazing, an honour and a privilege and all that sort of thing. It was a weird gig in the sense that there was no one directly in front of us. There were an awful lot of people there but they were very far aware. Directly in front of us was a field with sheep and horses and people pretending to play cricket. It was weird."