Stormzy to headline Glastonbury festival

Grime MC Stormzy has been announced as the first headliner of the 2019 Glastonbury festival. Posters announcing the news appeared in Oxfam stores in Streatham and in the town of Glastonbury itself.

It will be the London rapper’s most prestigious show yet, and a high point on a noted career trajectory. He broke through in 2015 with the freestyle Shut Up, originally recorded in a London park, and released his debut album Gang Signs & Prayer in 2017, which went to No 1 and earned him two Brit awards.

It’s rare that a rapper headlines the Glastonbury festival. Noel Gallagher protested the booking of Jay Z in 2008, who retorted by starting his set with a performance of the Gallagher-penned Wonderwall. Kanye West meanwhile headlined in 2015 to a mixed reception. Glastonbury’s 2019 festival takes place June 26 to 30. Around 200,000 tickets for the festival sold out in just 30 minutes when they went on sale in October.