Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Zara Woodcock

Sir Paul McCartney, 80, makes history as Glastonbury's oldest ever solo headliner

Sir Paul McCartney has made history with his headlining gig at Glastonbury Festival this year.

The Beatles icon, 80, performed after Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds to thousands of excited fans.

Paul was rocking out on the Pyramid Stage for his history-making set at the highly-loved festival in Somerset.

Not only did the music legend perform some of the most iconic songs from his decades-long career, but he also made history by being the oldest solo star to headline the event at Worthy Farm.

There was also an incredibly moving moment where Sir Paul managed a virtual duet with his late Beatles bandmate John Lennon - with the crowd going wild.

He said: "I'm singing with John again, we're back together."

Sir Paul making history on stage (PA)

The musician - who briefly paused his headline set to check on a festival-goer - looked dapper in a navy button-up top as he arrived on stage on Saturday night.

And he was also joined on stage by two special guests - Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters and Bruce Springsteen.

Sir Paul was very much in his element as he talked to the crowd and began his performance.

"Oh man, it’s so good to be here. We were supposed to be doing this three years ago," he told the crowd.

He kicked off the show, which had a sign language interpreter, with a rendition of the song Can't Buy Me Love.

And the music legend appeared lost for words when the huge Glasto crowd launched into a chorus of 'Happy Birthday' for their Saturday night headline act.

Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl was a special guest of Sir Paul McCartney (Getty Images)

The giant ocean of fans seemed completely engrossed by his performance as they focused on the screens and the stage.

Glastonbury took a time machine back several decades as fans got to witness Oasis star Noel's performance end only to welcome a Beatles legend.

However, he briefly paused his tribute to Jimi Hendrix to check on an audience member.

A source told the Mirror: "The crowd were going wild for Paul as soon as he stepped on stage.

"He was in the middle of his tribute to Jimi Hendrix when he stopped to check on someone in the crowd."

The singer even performed My Valentine, a love song dedicated to his wife Nancy, with the music video playing as the backdrop.

Johnny Depp even made an appearance in the video for the emotional song.

Paul McCartney performs with Bruce Springsteen (Samir Hussein/WireImage)

At one point early on, he took off his lovely blazer and joked: "Okay, that was the only wardrobe change of the whole evening."

And one very special guest joining Sir Paul on stage was Foo Fighters lead singer Dave Grohl, who had flown in especially for the massive headline set.

It seems even A-listers aren't immune from chaos at airports with the frontman experiencing delays getting to the UK.

He told the thrilled crowd: " I swear I wouldn't miss being here with you."

The pair performed I Saw Her Standing There, Glory Days, followed by the early Beatles' classic, I Wanna Be Your Man.

Thousands were in awe (PA)

The other songs performed included In Spite Of All The Danger by the Quarrymen, his pre-Beatles band with John Lennon and George Harrison along with John Lowe and Colin Hanton.

Getting Better, Come On To Me, Got To Get You Into My Life, Lady Madonna and Let Me Roll It was also belted out to the delight of the crowd.

Beatles' legend Sir Paul also reminisced about the early days of The Beatles - and performing a solo on the song for the first time in front of George Martin.

Emotional renditions of Let It Be and Hey Jude, performed with a video of John Lennon, rocked the ecstatic crowd.

Sir Paul thrilled the hundreds of thousands watching live by waving the Ukrainian flag.

The Beatles legend turned 80 on June 18, and festival-goers made sure he felt celebrated by singing Happy Birthday to him.

Paul McCartney headlining the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival (REX/Shutterstock)

The gargantuan crowd fell silent when Sir Paul paid tribute to his late pal John with Here Today, which was released two years after John died in 1980.

After playing, he told the crowd: "If you love someone, make sure you tell them."

Sir Paul previously played at the Pyramid Stage in 2004.

His much-anticipated performance came after Worthy Farm welcomed the festival's youngest ever headliner, Billie Eilish.

Paul began with Can't Buy Me Love (PA)
All you need is a bit of Macca (Tom Wren SWNS)

Before his big performance on Saturday, Sir Paul rehearsed with a secret sell-out intimate pub gig on Friday.

The Eleanor Rigby singer played in front of 600 people at a tiny establishment called the Cheese & Grain in Frome.

He told the crowd: "Good evening, Frome. Why am I getting a feeling we are going to have some fun? We've got some old songs and some new songs and some in-between."

The intimate gig started with a rendition of the Beatles' classic I Wanna Be Your Man, with the set list for the special concert also including the solo track Junior's Farm.

His set is the last Pyramid Stage gig for the night (PA)

He had paid tribute to the Rolling Stones at the small gig, with the rival rock band having performed in Hyde Park on Saturday afternoon.

A source close to Macca said: “It seems only right that Sir Paul should acknowledge the incredible fact both are playing the same weekend. The fact that both artists are still at the top of their game after all these years is just something else. They are both the very best of the best.”

A song he performed, I Wanna Be Your Man, was written by him and John Lennon the Stones in 1963.

(Samir Hussein/WireImage)

Get all the biggest showbiz news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the free Mirror Showbiz newsletter.

It was to be the Stones' first Top 20 hit.

However, John later admitted that the duo made the song in minutes, saying: "Well, we weren't gonna give them anything great, right?”

Three weeks after the Stones released I Wanna Be Your Man, the track then appeared on the album Meet the Beatles.

Sir Paul's performance at Glastonbury comes 52 years after The Beatles, which consisted of Paul, John, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, split up.

Many thought that the four men from Liverpool broke up as a band due to disagreements and feuds between John and Paul.

Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen during the hits laden set (Getty Images)

It wasn't true as Sir Paul described the post-Beatles ordeal with his former bandmate as "pretty hurtful".

"I suppose when The Beatles broke up perhaps there was a misconception we all sort of hated each other,” he said to British GQ in 2020.

"What I realise now is it was a family, a gang. Families argue and have disputes. Some people want to do this and some want to do that."

He added: "The only way for me to save The Beatles and Apple was to sue the band.

"If I hadn’t done that, it would have all belonged to Allen Klein," he added.

"The only way I was given to get us out of that was to do what I did."

Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at webcelebs@mirror.co.uk or call us direct at 0207 29 33033.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.