Jeff Lynne’s ELO will be taking to Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage on Sunday 26 June, taking the afternoon slot traditionally filled by beloved entertainers of a certain age.
Lynne follows the likes of Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers and Lionel Richie, who have attracted huge crowds to the festivals main stage for crowdpleasing sets of old favourites. Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis claimed Parton attracted the biggest crowd the event had ever seen when she appeared in 2014.
The return and rise of Jeff Lynne and ELO has been one of music’s surprise stories of the past few years. When Lynne released an album under the ELO name in 2001, Zoom, it reached only No 34 in the UK charts. However, after Lynne appeared at a Children in Need benefit concert in November 2013, he was persuaded by Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans to perform under the ELO name at a Radio 2 concert in Hyde Park. The 50,000 tickets for the show sold out in 15 minutes, since when Jeff Lynne’s ELO have announced sellout arena shows and released an album, Alone in the Universe, that reached No 4 in the UK.
The Sunday afternoon appearance by an older musician has become known as the “legend slot” owing to the calibre of the artists appearing in it. Last October, Leo Sayer claimed he was in the running to fill the bill in 2016, saying on ITV’s Loose Women: “It’s on the cards man. I want do to it. Why not?”
