GLORIOUS GLASTO
Music stars are coming out to play for Glastonbury. MARION McMULLEN looks at some of the acts who have made their mark over the decades
BRITISH band the Kinks were supposed to be the headline act for the first Glastonbury music special in 1970... but they were a no-show. Instead it was Marc Bolan and T-Rex who took to the stage for the inaugural event of what has now become one of the world’s biggest music festivals.
The first event at Worthy Farm was held the day after the death of Jimi Hendrix and attracted around 1,500 people who forked out £1 each for tickets. They were also presented with a bottle of milk as part of the admission price.
DJ Mad Mick was the compere and the sun shone on the music lovers, but farmer and festival organiser Michael Eavis later revealed the event had made a loss.
Nevertheless, he continued promoting the musical special and the following year the line-up included Hawkwind, Traffic and David Bowie.
Hawkwind were back in 1981 when the Pyramid Stage made its first appearance – it doubled as a cowshed for the rest of the year.
Another notable addition came in 1983 when public toilets were introduced.
These days the 200,000 tickets for the famous festival sell out within minutes and it attracts some of the world’s biggest music stars.
The dairy cows are moved to fields away from the site and crowds while the fun takes place.
The event has been no stranger to controversy over the years though.
American singer songwriter Suzanne Vega had to wear a bulletproof vest in 1989 after death threats were directed at her and her bassist, and Hollywood star Keanu
Reeves was pelted by the less-than-impressed crowd when he appeared with his band Dogstar in 1999. It led one of his band members to tell the audience: “Throw us one more orange and we could make a fruit salad.”
There were grumbles when Kylie Minogue was announced as a headline act in 2005, with some saying the Aussie star was “too pop” for the festival.
However, her Glastonbury moment did not happen that year after all, as she had to cancel after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She later returned to perform as a guest of the Scissor Sisters in 2010 and this year will play the much-loved Sunday teatime ‘legend’ slot.
Bruce Springsteen’s appearance a decade ago led to organisers being handed a £3,000 fine after his performance breached the festival curfew by nine minutes. The Boss played an epic set lasting two hours and 40 minutes and Michael Eavis later said: “I gave him 10 minutes and he took nine. I’ll pay the fine – £3,000.”
He added: “It’s not a lot because it was fantastic. The last nine minutes were spectacular.”
Icelandic chanteuse Bjork also broke the curfew in 2007.
Having American rapper Jay-Z as a headline act 11 years ago did no go down with some music fans – especially Noel Gallagher.
The Oasis star hit out at having “hip hop at Glastonbury” and told the
BBC: “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. If you start to break it then people aren’t going to go. I’m sorry, but
Jay-Z? No chance.”
Jay-Z responded by walking onto the stage at Glastonbury with a guitar strapped around his neck and playing Oasis hit Wonderwall.
His wife Beyoncé also faced a backlash from Glastonbury fans in 2011 with some people feeling her addition to the line-up might lead to the “popification” of the event.
However the Single Ladies and Crazy In Love singer ended up receiving rave reviews for her performance with some music critics awarding her appearance five stars.
Metallica was the act causing waves in 2014 as the four-piece group became the first heavy metal band to headline the festival.
Fans started a petition to stop them performing because of lead singer James Hetfield’s association with hunting. The band did not shy away from the controversy, poking fun at the criticism by screening a video short by director Julien Temple featuring the group dressed as bears shooting at hunters.
More than 130,000 people signed an online petition calling for Kanye West not to be allowed to take to the famous Pyramid stage in 2015. The rapper’s set was even gatecrashed by English comedian Simon Brodkin in his comedy character Lee Nelson.
He was escorted away by security, but the stage invasion ended up attracting more interest that Kanye’s Glastonbury debut. The festival in Somerset took a break last year, but returns on June 26 with a line-up that includes Stormzy, The Killers, The Cure, Janet Jackson, Miley Cyrus, Liam Gallagher, Lauryn Hill, Janelle Monae, George Ezra, The Chemical Brothers, Tame Impala and Kylie.
Michael Eavis, who is now 83, recently told BBC 6 Music: “It’s more exciting now than ever. We can afford to do it properly now.”