Having previously described her headlining set at this year’s Glastonbury Festival as “like a dream,” Olivia Rodrigo has announced that the show will be released on vinyl on 5 December.
This, of course, was the show that saw Rodrigo duet with Robert Smith - who she introduced to the Pyramid Stage as “perhaps the best songwriter to come out of England” - on two classic songs by his band, The Cure: Friday I’m In Love and Just Like Heaven.
“I’m soooo excited to announce u can preorder Live From Glastonbury (a BBC recording)” on vinyl in my store!!” wrote Rodrigo on X. “It also serves as proof to me that performing Friday I’m In Love and Just Like Heaven with The Cure’s Robert Smith wasn’t a dream.”
Indeed it wasn’t - those covers were just two of many highlights from Rodrigo’s rocked-up set, which saw her performing songs from Sour and Guts, her two studio albums.
Discussing how Smith’s involvement came about, Rodrigo’s lead guitarist Arianna Powell later told Guitar World: “We found out in Nashville when we were rehearsing for Bonnaroo, which ended up getting cancelled. Stacy [Jones], our music director, came and told us, and was like, ‘This is very secret – you cannot tell anyone, but he's going to be joining us.’ And I swear to God, I started crying. Like, I started tearing up.”
On the day itself, though, Powell says that she managed to maintain her composure, with Smith proving to be a calming influence.
“He was so cool," she recalls. "He was leaving his dressing room door open for us to hang out. He wanted to talk and be social. Through conversations with him, he was just saying, ‘It's just another show.’ And he was talking about how much he enjoys performing, and he loves it every time.
“That really inspired me and my energy for that night. Like, ‘Yeah, it's just another show - and I love doing this.’ The collective energy of the band that day was really infectious.”
There’s no word on whether Live from Glastonbury (a BBC recording) will also be coming to streaming services, but you can pre-order the two-disc vinyl set now from Olivia Rodrigo’s website. And if you do, the good news is that 100% of all artist proceeds from the two Cure songs on the record will be going to humanitarian charity Doctors Without Borders.
