Emily Eavis defends Glastonbury 2024 line-up and explains why there are no rock headliners
Glastonbury 2024 organiser Emily Eavis has defended the festival’s line-up amid criticism about the lack of rock acts on the main bill.
This year, popstar Dua Lipa, pop rock band Coldplay, and R&B singer SZA will headline the Pyramid Stage, with country pop icon Shania Twain taking the coveted Legends slot on Sunday.
Despite there being several rock acts headlining other stages at Worthy Farm, a lack of rock performers on the main stages has left some of the festival’s longest fans feeling unhappy.
But Emily, 44, has insisted that the main line-up at Glastonbury moves with the times and only reflects the current state of the music industry.
‘I think the line-up reflects what’s happening in the music world at the moment – there aren’t a lot of new rock acts to choose from if I’m honest,’ she told PA.
‘Hopefully that will emerge again, my heyday was 1995 with Pulp and Oasis and Radiohead – and that was great, but music changes all the time and right now this is where we’re at.’
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Dua Lipa will headline Glastonbury 2024 on Friday, June 28 (Picture: Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty)
She then said that in years when the line-up has featured large numbers of rock acts, the festival is then criticised for featuring too many of them.
‘Every year, we’ve been criticised for being too rock, too grime, too hip hop, too pop – it’s just part of our year. Generally, it’s not from the public – everybody’s really happy and excited to be here.’
The make-up of the headliners at the 2024 Glastonbury festival marks a significantchange from 2023, when Arctic Monkeys and Guns n’ Roses both headlined the main stage.
SZA will take to the stage on Sunday evening (Picture: Anna Webber/Getty)
Emily has said this year’s Glasto line-up is simply a reflection of the times (Picture: Getty)
Fore more than 20 years, Glastonbury was seen primarily as a rock festival, with the likes of T Rex, David Bowie, and Hawkwind performing there in the 1970s.
However, as the festival moved into the 1980s, its musical palette expanded, with the likes of Curtis Mayfield, UB40, and Black Uhuru all securing headline spots.
It was during the 1990s, and especially during the height of Britpop, that Glastonbury’s reputation as a rock festival really gathered speed.
The 2008 festival was particularly controversial among some quarters for being the first to have a rap headline act, with Jay Z performing on the Saturday.
Coldplay will headline Glastonbury for the fifth time on Saturday (Picture: Matt Jelonek/WireImage)
Glastonbury 2024 kicked off on Wednesday – TV coverage begins tonight (Picture: Getty)
Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher said at the time: ‘I’m sorry, but Jay Z? No chance. Glastonbury has the tradition of guitar music. I’m not having hip hop at Glastonbury. It’s wrong.’
In response, Jay Z began his headline set by walking onto the stage while singing Wonderwall, one of Oasis’ biggest hits – he also pretended to play the guitar before breaking into his own song, 99 Problems.
Jay Z’s performance opened up the doors for American hip hop and contemporary R&B acts to headline the festival, with Jay’s wife Beyoncé and his close friend Kanye West headlining in later years.
At the time, Beyoncé was the first solo female headliner at Glastonbury in 21 years – since then, Adele and Billie Eilish have performed to the hundreds of thousands who flock to Worthy Farm every year.
Coldplay’s set on Saturday will see them headline the festival for a fifth time, with their previous Pyramid Stage sets coming in 2002, 2005, 2011, and 2016.
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