MUSIC TO YOUR EARS...
Glastonbury greats. MARION McMULLEN looks at memorable festival moments
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Sir Paul McCartney is festival-ready at 80. The octogenarian and father-of-five has been gigging since 1957 and last played Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage in 2004. Glastonbury 2022 is also playing host to its youngest ever solo headliner in the form of 20-year-old Billie Eilish.
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T Rex singer Marc Bolan (below) made an entrance as he christened the first ever Glastonbury in 1970 with a storming set on the event’s then much smaller main stage. He stepped up to replace The Kinks and arrived at Worthy Farm in a Cadillac so large it barely fit down the property’s narrow lane.
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David Bowie was 21 when he played at the second Glastonbury in 1971 and roused the audience with a late night rendition of Oh! You Pretty Things. He returned in 2000 as a bona fide rock star with a back catalogue to match.
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Noel Gallagher was famously riled when it was announced rapper Jay-Z (right) was headlining the festival in 2008. The New York artist responded by arriving on stage brandishing a guitar and opening his set with a cover of Oasis’ Wonderwall.
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Skyfall singer Adele was very chatty when she appeared at the festival in 2016. She spoke for long periods between songs – at one point revealing she “had a Chinese and did the dishes” as she watched Muse’s headline set from her home the
previous night.
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The Rolling Stones made their debut in 2013 with Sir Mick Jagger quipping: “After all these years they finally got round to asking us,” in front of 100,000 fans. The band (above) had been asked to headline for many years, but touring commitments and reported quarrels over their fee blocked the way.
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Kanye West’s performance in 2015 proved memorable. The US rapper restarted his song Black Skinhead and forgot the lyrics to an impromptu version of Bohemian Rhapsody. He ended by repeatedly shouting: “I am the greatest living rock star on the planet.”
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Johnny Depp duetted with an 81-year-old Kris Kristofferson at Glastonbury in 2017. The crowd roared when he appeared on stage and played along to the US folk star’s hit Sunday Morning.
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Stormzy made history in 2019 by becoming the first black British solo artist to headline Glastonbury Festival. The Croydonborn grime star described his slot on the iconic Pyramid stage as “the greatest night of my entire life”.
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Glastonbury Festival stalwart Fatboy Slim brought hundreds of rolls of personalised toilet paper with him in 2019 bearing the slogan, “Wipe Here, Wipe Now” – a reference to 1998 hit Right Here, Right Now.