From Stormzy to Oasis – Here’s HUNGER’s 10 most iconic Glastonbury performances
Finally, Glastonbury returns this week with over 200,000 guests set to step foot on Worthy Farm. The festival touches down this week for another gargantuan weekend of live music, art and performance, headlined by rock royalty in the form of Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Elton John. Cynics may grumble about the so called “commercialisation” of the festival these days, but Worthy Farm remains a uniquely special place where careers can be made, legends can be born and some of the most iconic live performances in history have taken place.Ahead of the glorious return of the world’s greatest festival, HUNGER takes a look back at the best ever Glastonbury performances.
Billie Eilish (2019)
The musical landscape famously changes at a dramatically quick pace. When the line-up for Glastonbury was first announced in 2019, Billie Eilish looked like a future superstar. By the time the festival eventually rolled around, she was already one of the world’s most prominent artists. For security reasons, Eilish was moved from the John Peel Stage to the outdoor Other Stage, which she still made feel intimate thanks to her whispered vocal style.
Despite only having one album to her name and being a teenager, Eilish’s set was one of the weekend’s highlights. While she was an inexperienced live performer, it didn’t come across from the show, which exerted Eilish into the conversation as a future headliner.
Dolly Parton (2014)
Our beloved ‘Jolene’ hitmaker filled the prestigious tea-time Legends slot and it did not disappoint. One of the highest-attended sets in festival history, Dolly Parton gave fans everything they wanted and more, from rapping about the mud to playing the Benny Hill theme song backwards. Decked out in a white spangly outfit, the country legend truly soared when she performed her original version of ‘I Will Always Love You’, which was popularised by Whitney Houston for The Bodyguard soundtrack.
Oasis (1994)
At a time when Oasis had burst onto the music scene, everyone was waiting to see what the Gallagher brothers had to offer. They didn’t disappoint. A young and cocky Liam Gallagher strolled along the stage and confronted the crowd: “Are you lot gonna wake up for some proper songs?” Safe to say everyone was well and truly awake at this point. The Britpop icons ran through their 1994 album Definitely Maybe and put their stamp on UK music history forever.
Jay-Z (2008)
In 2008 was when rap fully infiltrated the UK festival scene. Noel Gallagher wasn’t happy but the crowd definitely was. Who could ever forget Hov mocking the Oasis frontman with a rendition of ‘Wonderwall’? Shortly after that impromptu showing, Jizza burst into ‘99 Problems’ as well as classic after classic. Not every UK music purist may have liked it but what’s more rock and roll than that?
Sir Paul McCartney (2004)
The legendary artists first ever UK festival performance was the singalong to end them all. Effortlessly transitioning through iconic tracks like ‘Drive My Car’ and ‘Get Back’, McCartney cemented his name into Glasto folklore forever. He returns once again to headline this year, and if it’s even half as good as his previous performance he’ll go down as one of Glasto’s best-ever performances (not that he needs it with all of his respective accolades).
Blur (1994)
On Sunday, June 26th, 1994 a trio of emerging bands all took to the Glastonbury stage: Oasis, Radiohead and Blur. And the latter’s set on the NME Stage is regularly regarded as the best of the bunch the stuff of legend. The band made it very clear with their memerising performance that Britpop was a revolution, not a flash in the pan.
Beyoncé (2011)
Pregnant with her first child at the time and appearing after her husband Jay-Z headlined, Beyoncé delivered Glasto’s best pop performance to date. Performing monstrous hits ‘Single Ladies’ and ‘Crazy In Love’, the star also provided a sensational cover of ‘Sex On Fire’. Heartfelt ballads sung while she knelt on white grand pianos sent the audience into a frenzy.
The Killers (2017)
The Killers invigorated the New Tent early on the Saturday evening of 2004, with the audience spilling far out beyond the confines of the canvas. The Las Vegas rockers treated their earlier fans to ‘All These Things that I’ve Done’ and certified floor-filler ‘Mr Brightside’. Ready to recapture some of that magic years later, the band returned to the stage (now named the John Peel Stage) for an even better secret set in 2017. Oh yes, the calibre of these surprise acts is hardly shoddy…
Pulp (1995)
It was a nightmare for original headliners the Stone Roses when poor John Squires broke his collarbone in a cycling accident in San Francisco, forcing the entire band to pull out of their much-anticipated headline set. Few knew who was replacing the rockers until Pulp walked on stage, but they saved the day after they were suddenly promoted to the coveted headline slot with just a few hours’ notice. They produced an excellent performance and of course, they played ‘Common People’, which was released earlier that year and set to become their signature song.
Stormzy (2019)
Not only did Stormzy become the first Black British solo artist to headline Glasto, but he was also the first British rapper to do so as well. After only releasing one album (Gang Signs & Prayer) Stormzy pulled off a heart-stopping performance only a veteran could dream of. Donning a Union Jack stab-proof vest, designed by none other than Banksy, Stormzy gave a level of energy rarely seen on the Pyramid stage. Chris Martin, Dave and Fredo all joined him on stage in a performance that gave British rap the platform it had been longing for.
