Former Arch Enemy singer Alissa White-Gluz recently opened up about her decision to embrace veganism and addressed common misconceptions about the lifestyle in an interview with Knotfest.
White-Gluz discussed the inconsistencies she observes in how society treats different animals. She explained her personal motivation for adopting a vegan lifestyle.
“I have seen animal rights, not even just veganism, but just animal rights in general, go through a rollercoaster of successes and losses,” she said. “It’s always a very interesting thing where if somebody rescues a beagle from an animal testing facility, which actually just happened — a bunch of beagles were rescued and the activists went to jail — but they’re applauded as heroes, because they saved dogs.”
She continued to highlight the double standards in animal treatment. She noted how people react differently depending on the type of animal involved.
“But if those same people were walking out with another animal — let’s say a very similar animal who actually is more intelligent and shares more DNA with humans, a pig — then people probably wouldn’t applaud them,” White-Gluz explained. “They would just comment ‘bacon’. And the thing is they can comment that all they want — I know where bacon comes from; you’re not blowing my mind.”
The singer also addressed misconceptions about vegans. She discussed how the movement has been affected by social media trends.
“I think that, unfortunately, right now we have reached a point where there’s so much oversaturation in the influencer culture that veganism got kind of sucked into a diet trend, which it is not,” she said. “Just to make it perfectly clear, for someone who has never met a vegan, you probably won’t know that they’re vegan until you maybe go out to eat with them somewhere and they place an order. And then you still might not know unless you straight-up ask them. It’s not something that ever comes up in conversation.”
White-Gluz concluded by explaining her simple motivation for choosing veganism. She emphasized how accessible the lifestyle has become.
“I went vegan because I love animals and I don’t wanna hurt them. That’s it,” she stated. “And if other people feel that same way and they don’t wanna hurt animals, we’re at a point in time now where it’s actually really easy to avoid hurting them. So they could find that, ‘Hey, I found a way to stop hurting animals. It’s really easy. It doesn’t cost anything. All that it involves is me choosing to eat that thing instead of that thing. Cool. Same price, same nutritional value. One thing is made from plants and the other thing is made from dead animals.’ It’s so easy now.”
White-Gluz’s commitment to veganism and animal rights extends far beyond her recent statements. It represents a lifelong dedication that has shaped both her personal identity and professional advocacy work.
Blabbermouth reported that White-Gluz was raised in a completely vegetarian household and has never eaten meat in her life. She transitioned to veganism in the 1990s while still very young. Her mother became vegetarian at age thirteen and has maintained that lifestyle for approximately 45-50 years. This created a foundation for White-Gluz’s own ethical choices. In a 2024 interview, she reflected on her journey. She explained that while she was born vegetarian, she initially consumed dairy and eggs before learning about those industries.
“I was born vegetarian so I’ve never eaten meat but I did eat dairy and eggs when I was younger and I was shocked to learn about the dairy and egg industry,” she said in the interview.
The Arch Enemy vocalist has channeled her convictions into active advocacy work that began during her high school years. Noisecreep noted that she started organizing fundraisers and events for organizations like PETA and Greenpeace. She eventually became a spokesperson for peta2, PETA’s youth-oriented division. The organization recognized her commitment by naming her “Sexiest Female Vegetarian.” She has also served as a producer on the documentary “I Could Never Go Vegan.”
White-Gluz has consistently emphasized that activism forms the core of her identity, even beyond her musical career. In a 2023 interview at the Tuska festival in Helsinki, Blabbermouth documented that she considers herself “an activist before I’m a musician even.” She explained that activism drives her forward every day. She hopes that her existence can make the planet better for everyone, with animal rights being her primary focus.
The metal vocalist has also addressed practical concerns about maintaining a vegan lifestyle while touring internationally. She demonstrates that her commitment extends beyond personal choices to practical advocacy. She has described touring the world on a vegan diet as “totally possible.” This counters common misconceptions about the difficulty of maintaining plant-based nutrition while traveling extensively for musical performances.
