glastonbury
Glastonbury Festival’s ticket release is one of the most eagerly — and dreaded — days for British music fans. The performing arts festival, which began in 1970, is a staple of the summer’s festival scene and the 210,000 tickets usually sell out instantly amidst queues and a scramble to secure passes. Now the festival has […]
Glastonbury Festival took place at Worthy Farm in Somerset in South West England this past weekend (June 28-30), headlined by Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA. The festival is inarguably the pinnacle of the U.K.’s festival season as 200,000 fans head to the British countryside for a varied lineup. SEVENTEEN, Burna Boy, Camila Cabello, Avril Lavigne and Shania Twain all performed on the bill, alongside emerging names like The Last Dinner Party, Kneecap, English Teacher and more.
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Talk has already turned to next year’s edition. Festival boss Emily Eavis has confirmed that she’s already in conversation with artists for next year’s lineup, and that they’ll take their traditional fallow year in 2026. These are the acts that are potentially in contention to headline the 2025 edition.
Oasis
Talk of the Gallagher brothers reuniting is now a fixture in the chatter around potential headliners. The group – helmed by brothers Noel and Liam – headlined once (in 2004) prior to their acrimonious split in 2009, though there’s a sense of unfinished business. Both have performed at the festival in recent years: Noel warmed up the crowd for Paul McCartney before his epic 2022 slot, while Liam took a similar slot in 2019. This summer, Liam embarked on a sold-out U.K. tour for the 30th anniversary of Oasis’ debut album, Definitely Maybe. The pair recently denied a report that suggested shows were imminent, but it’s the rumor that just won’t go away.
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Taylor Swift
Similarly, it feels as if Taylor Swift is at some point destined to headline the Pyramid Stage. Swift was due to take top billing in 2020 alongside Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar before COVID put touring on hold. Post-pandemic, Swift returned with her blockbuster The Eras Tour. Given that the festival’s fees are famously low, and that the Eras run concludes in December 2024, a return could be tricky to negotiate.
Harry Styles
It’s perhaps a shock to learn that Harry Styles hasn’t topped the bill for Glastonbury yet. His former band One Direction never got the invite and, as it stands, the 30-year-old has yet to perform at Worthy Farm. That could change, though: a new album is reportedly in production, his first since 2022’s Billboard 200-topping Harry’s House. There were rumors he would make an appearance during Shania Twain’s Legends slot in 2024, but perhaps he’s holding out for next year….
Sam Fender
For the past decade, opportunities for British artists to ascend to headliner status at Glastonbury have been slim. If there’s a queue forming, however, Sam Fender would be at the front of it. The Newcastle-born musician’s second album Seventeen Going Under went to No. 1 on the U.K.’s Official Album Charts, and last summer he played a huge show at St. James Park, his home city’s soccer stadium. In 2022, he played before headliner Billie Eilish on the Pyramid Stage. With album three due later this year, this could be the moment.
Raye
Similarly, only a handful of women – Florence + The Machine, Adele, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and SZA – have headlined the festival in recent history, something Eavis is keen to rectify. Raye is a perfect option. The British artist had a global hit in 2023 with “Escapism,” feat. 070 Shake, which landed at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 — and she scooped up a record-breaking six Brit Awards in February 2024. She headlined her first festival at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in May and the trajectory suggests Glasto could be next.
Madonna
Madonna was heavily rumored to take the Sunday headline slot in 2024 until negotiations reportedly broke down over a performance fee. The Celebration Tour – which grossed a remarkable $225.4 million, per Billboard Boxscore – wrapped in May 2024, but a show out of her touring cycle may be more manageable and achievable.
Rihanna
The Barbadian star has also flirted with a performance at the festival and has been heavily rumored in the past. In 2023, it was reported that she had to withdraw from the lineup due to the impending birth of her second child with husband A$AP Rocky. There were more whispers earlier this year, but with new music seemingly further away from what Navy stans would like to imagine, perhaps 2025 is more likely.
Olivia Rodrigo
The “Drivers License” singer is currently in the midst of her GUTS World Tour, which wraps in Australia this October. It would be a quick turnaround to get back on the road for June 2025 with a new record, but given how successful her last Glastonbury appearance was in 2022, she may well fancy heading back to Worthy Farm sooner rather than later.
Dave
U.K. rap has enjoyed considerable success at the festival in recent years. In 2019, Stormzy became the first artist from the scene to headline the festival. That same year, Dave went viral when he brought up audience member ‘Alex from Glasto’ for a scene-stealing appearance on the mic. The U.K. artist has enjoyed considerable commercial and critical success with his two records (2019’s Psychodrama and 2021’s We’re All Alone In This Together), and his joint single “Sprinter” with Central Cee is the longest-running rap No. 1 on the U.K. Singles Chart. If a third album materializes before next summer, consider him a shoo-in.
Fred again..
By the time 2025’s edition rolls around, an electronic act will not have headlined the Pyramid Stage for two decades, stretching back to Basement Jaxx’s slot in 2005. Whether that’s through a lack of viable acts or reluctance from the festival, Fred again..’s popularity suggests a clear path to bring dance music back to the main stage. His 2023 set on The Other Stage drew one of the festival’s biggest ever crowds and his secret sets at the 2024 edition caused areas to be shut down hours in advance. He headlined Coachella’s second weekend with Skrillex and Four Tet in 2023 and performed a solo set at Los Angeles’ 77,500-capacity Coliseum last month, suggesting he’s more than up for the challenge.
Glastonbury was both a romantic and professional outing for Dua Lipa, who both headlined the festival and enjoyed the event with boyfriend Callum Turner by her side.
And now that the weekend is over, the 28-year-old pop star shared a carousel of photos from her time on the grounds — featuring a couple sweet snaps with the Fantastic Beasts actor that mark the couple’s Instagram debut.
In one of the pictures, Turner appears to kiss Lipa’s head, one arm around her shoulder. In another, the pair lays together on the grass, engrossed in conversation with big smiles on their faces.
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“dancing until you see the sunrise at stone circle is the glasto ritual,” she captioned the post, which also featured photos of the singer with friends as well as a video snippet of her headlining set.
In addition to Lipa, Coldplay and SZA also led the 2024 festival June 26-30. Plus, Camila Cabello, Avril Lavigne, Cyndi Lauper and dozens of other artists took the Glastonbury stage.
The “Levitating” singer and Turner have been rumored to be dating for months. In February, they attended a British Vogue party in London together followed by a BRIT Awards afterparty in March. By the time several fan cameras captured them holding hands at Glastonbury over the weekend, it had been pretty well established that the two stars are a couple.
Lipa’s headlining set at the festival comes about a month after her latest album Radical Optimism debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, her highest peak to date. The musician has several tour dates slated across Europe throughout the summer, as well as a string of performances in Asia for November and December.
The “Houdini” artist also recently opened up about her political opinions, especially concerning her recent support for Palestine amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. “It’s always going to be met with a backlash and other people’s opinions, so it’s a big decision,” she told Radio Times last month. “I balance it out, because ultimately I feel it’s for the greater good, so I’m willing to [take that hit].”
Lewis Capaldi returned to the stage for Glastonbury after taking a break to “rest and recover” over the past few weeks, and his return was aided by his fans.
As he closed his festival set with chart-topper “Someone You Loved” this weekend, he appeared to be affected by involuntary movements and could not fully perform the song on his own. No worries, though: The audience stepped in where he left off.
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Capaldi has been candid about diagnosis of Tourette’s syndrome, which is a neurological disorder involving sudden repetitive movements or unwanted tics. In April, he revealed it might eventually force him to quit music altogether.
“My tic is getting quite bad on stage now,” Capaldi said in an interview with The Times that month. “I’m trying to get on top of that. If I can’t, I’m f—ed. It’s easier when I play guitar, but I hate playing guitar. I know, I’m a walking contradiction.”
“It’s only making music that does this to me,” he told the publication. “Otherwise I can be fine for months at a time. So it’s a weird situation. Right now, the trade-off is worth it.”
“But if it gets to a point where I’m doing irreparable damage to myself, I’ll quit,” Capaldi added at the time. “I hate hyperbole, but it is a very real possibility that I will have to pack music in.”
In early June, Capaldi canceled gigs in Glasgow, Dublin, London and Norway in a message that he said “hurts me a lot to have to type.”
He wrote, “The last few months have been full on both mentally and physically, I haven’t been home properly since Christmas and at the moment I’m struggling to get to grips with it all. I need to take a moment to rest and recover, to be at my best and ready for Glastonbury and all of the other incredible shows coming up so that I’m able to continue doing what I love for a long time to come.”
“Someone You Loved” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart in 2019. Capaldi recently released his sophomore studio album, Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent.
See the emotional Glastonbury moment below.
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