Imelda May has said she refuses to be a "token female" for music festivals.

The Mayhem singer joined the likes of Fleetwood Mac, The Black Keys, Paolo Nutini and Billy Idol on the bill at the 2015 Isle Of Wight Festival.

Expressing her views on whether there should be more female artists headlining events, the 40 year old told IBTimes UK: "I agree with just great artists headlining.

"I don't care what gender they are I just think there should be great artists. There are a lot of fantastic women out there. But I don't want to be a token female in any gig that I do, I want to be there because I'm good at what I do."

She continued: "For headliners if they're female it should be because they're fantastic. Yes, I'm all for women in music. When I started there weren't many women in music.

"I've been doing this for 26 years, I started when I was a teenager and it was a lot different then. There weren't many women [but] now there's loads of women, lots of women backstage and I find it really nice."

After many years working her way up through the music industry, May was signed to record label Universal in 2008 and then released her first non-independent album, Love Tattoo, which reached number one on the Irish charts.

The singer's next two albums, 2010's Mayhem and 2014's Tribal, enjoyed the same chart-topping triumph. The Dublin-born musician is currently working on her fourth album, from which fans can expect a "bluesy" sound.

With her music career, TV series The Imelda May Show and a young daughter to keep her busy, it is a wonder how May manages to juggle such a hectic schedule.

The It's Good To Be Alive chanteuse had a wise response: "Same as anyone else, she's not in school yet so I can just throw her under my arm and off we go. She absolutely loves it."

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