There is one thing that is true for every year Glastonbury takes place - it is never boring.
From star-studded performances, A-listers watching from the stands and surprise performances, the weekend never disappoints.
The hallowed grounds of Worthy Farm have seen many iconic moments over the years.
Ahead of the return of one of the world’s greatest festivals, this year headlined by The 1975, Olivia Rodrigo, Rod Stewart and Neil Young , here’s a look back at some of the best - and worst - ever Glastonbury performances.
The Best
Beyonce
Pyramid Stage - 2011
Queen B did this set while pregnant with her first child at the time - and it is fair to say she delivered.
Banging out all the hits from “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” to “Crazy in Love”, she wrapped up with the most bootylicious of Destiny’s Child medleys.
Stormzy
Pyramid Stage - 2019
Boasting what was rumoured to be the most expensive Glastonbury set ever staged, Stormzy put Grime officially on the map with this historic performance.
He wore a Banksy-designed stab-proof vest, featured Chris Martin and even had ballet dancers on stage during the set when he became the first black British solo artist to perform on the revered Glastonbury headline slot in 2019.
Jay-Z
Pyramid Stage - 2008
Noel Gallagher made his disgust known when it was announced that Jay Z would headline Glastonbury, but this did nothing but make it a major talking point, and ultimately made more people flock to watch.
The iconic moment of Jay Z mocking Noel’s disgust by entering the stage singing classic Oasis hit “Wonderwall” will go down in history.
He then launched into his own hit “99 Problems” and followed it with a number of hip-hop classics including “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”, “Girls, Girls, Girls”, “Big Pimpin’”, “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)”.
The Cure
Pyramid Stage - 2019
Robert Smith does not do things by halves, and he returned after a 24 year break to smash his set at Glastonbury in 2019.
The Cure came back with a vengeance and brought with them all their biggest hits including “Close to Me”, “In Between Days”, “Boys Don’t Cry” and indie dancefloor mainstays such as “Friday I’m in Love”, “Why Can’t I Be You?” and “Just Like Heaven”.
Pulp
Pyramid Stage - 1995
One of Glastonbury's best ever kept secrets - when The Stone Roses pulled out of their hotly anticipated Glastonbury headline set in 1995, some big shoes were needed to fill the space.
Step in Jarvis Cocker and Pulp - and it was very much a surprise as few in the crowd had any idea who was replacing them until Pulp walked onstage. To say they stepped up is a vast understatement – they went down in history. The band performed a number of hits including “Babies”, “Disco 2000” and “Common People”.
The Bad
Shania Twain - 2024
Before the set even started, Shania Twain in the legends slot did not seem to excite the crowd, and there were large swathes of space in the crowd - which is normally packed.
While her set was fun, and included all her biggest hits, the sound problems were difficult to shake, and her performance was criticised by many for being flat.
Kanye West
Pyramid Stage - 2015
Nerves appeared to get the better of Kanye on this occasion.
He attempted to sing a British classic “Bohemian Rhapsody” but forgot the words had to restart his own hit “Black Skinhead”’ after comedian Lee Nelson invaded the stage pretending to be a surprise guest rapper.
Noel Gallagher said after the performance that he lost interest in Kanye West’s performance after just half an hour.
SZA
Pyramid Stage - 2024
SZA being given a headlining slot was met with disapproval before the star had even set foot on the stage.
And her headline set was dubbed one of the poorest attended in the festival’s history. Minutes before she was due to take to the stage, there were large patches of space free on what is usually a completely packed area of the festival.
There were sound issues during the set, which was dubbed a disappointment all round.
James Blunt
Pyramid Stage - 2008
James Blunt appeared at the famous festival just over 15 years ago but admits he still cringes at the memory of a mortifying mistake he made while performing in 2008.
Things went a little pear-shaped after he chose to crowd surf with “over 80,000 people” watching.
He told the Metro: “When I got back to the stage I realised it was too high for me to climb onto,” he admitted. “There was a guy on the stage, I didn’t recognise him, but I started shouting at him for help.
“‘Help me, please!’” the ‘You’re Beautiful’ star revealed he had yelled at the mystery man. “Then I realised he had a camera on his shoulder, and he was the BBC TV cameraman, and I was shouting ‘Help me!’ down the barrel of the lens to the nation.”
