Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA to headline 2024 Glastonbury festival
Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA will headline Glastonbury 2024, a diverse spread of A-list artists matched by a strong supporting lineup across the 26-30 June festival including Little Simz, LCD Soundsystem and Burna Boy, plus Shania Twain in the always-jubilant “legend” slot.
Much loved by Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis who once said they can “call in and do the milking any time” on his Worthy Farm site, Coldplay continue their longstanding relationship with the festival, becoming the first act to headline the Pyramid stage five times. They launched themselves into pop-rock’s big leagues with their first headline performance in 2002 when they had only released one album, and have since headlined in 2005, 2011 and 2016, as well as doing a livestreamed performance to an empty Pyramid stage field in lieu of a 2021 festival cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Coldplay’s 2024 performance is a European festival exclusive, and continues their Music of the Spheres world tour which began in March 2022 – already the third-highest grossing tour of all time behind Taylor Swift and Elton John.
Dua Lipa’s billing comes a day after the announcement of her third album Radical Optimism, which is off to a strong start with the singles Houdini and Training Season becoming global hits. She has said it was inspired by “the idea of going through chaos gracefully and feeling like you can weather any storm” – perhaps including Glastonbury’s unpredictable weather – and informed by “the music history of psychedelia, trip hop, and Britpop”.
She first played Glastonbury in 2016, then in 2017 delivered a starmaking set on the John Peel stage (now Woodsies) which saw audiences spilling out of the sides of the tent in the rain. The booking is a rare dancepop Pyramid headliner, but continues Glastonbury’s broader championing of pop in recent years with the likes of Beyoncé, Adele, Billie Eilish and Elton John.
Versatile R&B singer SZA plays Glastonbury for the first time, and her elevation straight to Pyramid headliner status is the latest rung of a remarkable rise. Songs from her 2022 album SOS – an instant R&B classic that charts relationship strife with remarkable detail and depth of feeling – won three Grammys and she was also nominated for song, record, and album of the year; SOS reached No 1 in the US and No 2 in the UK.
Brightening up Sunday teatime will be Shania Twain, playing the “legend” slot occupied in recent years by the likes of Diana Ross, Kylie Minogue and fellow country music hero Dolly Parton. A recent UK arena tour by Twain was much acclaimed, with the Guardian heralding “two full hours stacked with hits, zany cowboys and aliens staging, and towering self-confidence”, and with
nine UK Top 10 hits including That Don’t Impress Me Much and Man! I Feel Like a Woman, Twain has the requisite crowdpleasers for one of Glastonbury’s most beloved slots. Speaking on Radio 2, Twain said the booking “feels like an accolade of sorts, really something that you have to earn – it’s just very rewarding”.
Other Pyramid performers include Little Simz in a plum spot preceding Coldplay, plus LCD Soundsystem, Burna Boy, PJ Harvey, Cyndi Lauper, Janelle Monáe and Michael Kiwanuka. Thirteen-member boyband Seventeen become the first K-pop band to perform on the Pyramid stage.
On the second-biggest Other stage, Idles follow the chart-topping success of recent album Tangk with a headline slot, joined by Disclosure and the National. UK rap is represented by DBlock Europe – who recently played four nights at London’s O2 Arena – plus Headie One and the Streets; bands include the Last Dinner Party and Two Door Cinema Club; and there’s a broad spread of pop encompassed by Camila Cabello, Anne-Marie and Avril Lavigne.
Recent winners of the Brit award for best group, Jungle, headline West Holts with Justice and Jessie Ware taking the other slots, while James Blake, Gossip and Jamie xx headline Woodsies. Up the hill on the Park stage, Fontaines DC, Peggy Gou and London Grammar headline, with Glastonbury stalwarts Orbital preceding the latter.
It ends months of speculation about the lineup, which has been announced later than usual, with no places for the rumoured likes of Madonna and Bruce Springsteen. The rumour mill will now turn to the fabled unannounced secret sets, with notable holes in the touring schedules of Glastonbury faves such as the Killers and Kings of Leon.
2024’s festival is the first time in Glastonbury history that two of the three top headliners are female artists, and a turnaround from last year’s allmale trio of Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Elton John. That booking was criticised in some quarters, though organiser Emily Eavis defended it as a “pipeline problem” across the music industry and said she was dedicated to diversity – close to half of the overall initial lineup announcement featured female acts.
Texas frontwoman Sharleen Spiteri backed Eavis, saying on stage at 2023’s festival that the organiser booked women “not because she’s ticking a fucking box to have them on the stages. She’s put us on these stages because she thinks we’re fucking amazing”.
Organisers will announce more acts in the coming weeks.
The Glastonbury 2024 lineup so far Pyramid stage
Dua Lipa Coldplay SZA Shania Twain LCD Sound system Little Simz BoyPJ Harvey Cyndi Lauper Michael Kiwanuka Janelle Monáe Seventeen Paul Heaton Keane Paloma Faith Olivia Dean Ayra Starr
Other stage
Idles DisclosureThe NationalDBlock EuropeThe StreetsTwo DoorCinemaClub Anne-Marie Camila Lavigne Bombay Bicycle Club Bloc Party The Last Dinner Party Nothing But Thieves Confidence ManHeadie One
West Holts stage
JungleJessie ArchivesDanny BrownBlack PumasBrittany HowardSugababesNitin SawhneyJordan RakeiAsha Bailey RaeSteel PulseSquidSofia Kourtesis
Woodsies stage
Jamie xxGossipJames BlakeSamphaSleaford ModsRomyDeclan McKennaYard ActArlo ParksAlvvaysFat White FamilyBlondshellKenya GraceSoccer MommyRemi WolfMannequin PussyNewdadHigh VisKneecap
The Park stage
Fontaines DCPeggy GouLondon Grammar King BreedersMount KimbieDexysLankumBaxter DuryThis Is the KitArooj AftabMdou MoctarThe Mary WallopersOtoboke BeaverBarry Can’t SwimBar Italia
Also announced
Honey DijonDJ SpenEliza RoseBonoboSkream &
• This article was updated on Thursday 14 March with a correction: Dua Lipa has played Glastonbury twice before, not once.