FEATURE:
Before the Names Are Announced…
What the Glastonbury Festival Has to Consider Next Year
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IT is that time of year…
IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna
when Glastonbury Festival preparing to announce its first names. Well, it will be in the autumn at some point. Though there is this usual speculation and rumours happening. Everyone has their own idea of who will or should play. People hoping that Madonna would headline next year have been disappointed, as organiser Emily Eavis said this will not happen. The Guardian provide information about what Eavis’s reaction was to the rumours:
“Madonna will not be performing at next year’s Glastonbury, the festival’s organiser, Emily Eavis, has said.
The singer, who has the most top 10 singles in UK chart history of any female artist, has never featured at Britain’s biggest music festival.
Eavis said Glastonbury had booked all its headliners for June 2027. Asked about the lineup and speculation that the Queen of Pop would make her debut at the event in Somerset, Eavis told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme: “No, it’s definitely not Madonna, I’ll tell you that.”
She added: “But we have got three [other] headliners and we’re very excited about it – it’s all coming together really well.”
When asked about the possibility of a performance from Taylor Swift, Eavis laughed and said she did not want to discuss the lineup any further.
Speculation about Madonna, 67, appearing at Glastonbury began in June when the singer suggested to the BBC talkshow host Graham Norton that she was planning “something bigger” in the UK next summer.
Eavis said: “Pretty much 95% of the stories [about Glastonbury] you read are not true, and rumours are pretty much always wrong.
“But the good news is that we’ve got our headliners and we’re cracking on, and we just can’t wait to get back.”
Last year’s Glastonbury festival was headlined by the 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo, with Rod Stewart in the legend slot”.
I didn’t think Madonna would headline. For a start, I think that she would be too expensive. In terms of her budget and fee, I am not sure that this is something Glastonbury would accommodate. Also, she might not be interested in doing that. She does her own thing, so is Glastonbury going to hold any appeal? As I will explore later, Glastonbury has only once booked a woman to headliner the Pyramid Stage over the age of forty. I am not including the Legends slot, as that is reserved for older, more established artists, I do worry that the weather will play havoc. This year has been one of the most brutal and horrible summers ever. In terms of the relentless heat, droughts and the issues we have faced, what is that happens next year? Glastonbury has always conscientious of the environment, but are artists going to be attracted to performing at the height of summer in extreme heat? Also, there are thousands of people coming together, and it is worrying to think what could happen. It is going to be a struggle. In years to come, I feel a lot of festivals will have move to the autumn, because it will be too hot. Glastonbury will happen next June, so it might not be as hot as it is now. Though I do worry that it is going to be a heatwave and this might put some people off. Though there is no point predicting who will headline, some feel that Harry Styles is going to be one of the names. This article explains more:
“Festival organiser Emily Eavis reportedly called Styles her Glastonbury’s dream booking back in the lead-up to the 2025 festival (which he reportedly was also approached for). In an interview with The Sun, an insider told the paper that: "Harry would be the perfect Glastonbury headliner and Emily has long wanted him on stage at Worthy Farm, but the dates have never quite worked out.”
“Harry would be an incredible act to watch on the Pyramid Stage," the insider continued. "Glastonbury has a fallow year in 2026, so booking Harry for next year would be perfect. It is something the team at Glastonbury are pushing for. Whether that dream will come true, however, is still to be decided by Harry’s team”.
His fourth studio album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally, was met with some positive reviews, though it is not his best. Even so, his live dates in support of the album have been well received. Incredible shows that have won massive reviews. If Harry Styles’s name was one of the headliners, it would mean that there is not going to be an all-female line-up. Glastonbury has never had an all-female line-up. There are other male artists who could headline. Queens of the Stone Age, Muse and Jack White. I do hope that there is only one male headline act, as Glastonbury has only once had more than one women/female act headline the Pyramid Stage. That was in 2024, when SZA and Dua Lipa were headliners. Only ten women have headlined the Pyramid Stage. I mean in terms of acts, even if they have had more than one woman in. Ten female headliners since 1970. That is out of eighty-seven. Half of those female headliners have been booked in the past decade. Most of the 1990s saw no female headliners booked. It is not just Glastonbury that has an issue. This year, Reading & Leeds had gender balance regarding headliners, though I think this is the first time this has ever happened. As most of these major festivals have been going for decades, it is appalling that they have taken so long to balance the headliners. Women rarer in the headline slots than men. Glastonbury is our biggest festival, so it should lead be example. The best-case scenario would be two female artists being booked, though you have a feeling that it may just be one again. If there is only one female artist headlining in 2027, Glastonbury would have to answer some questions. Will they ever book three women to headline? Given how women have been dominating music for years, why is it so hard for festivals to reflect this? Not only in terms of headliners. The bills in general.
There has been a lot of talk about Taylor Swift. I feel she is another artist who will have this big budget and might be a bit challenging to spring for. Also, is 2027 the right year to headline her? She would have been more at her peak last year or the year before. Though it would be amazing if Taylor Swift headlined. There are so many female artists that could and should headline Glastonbury. Phoebe Bridgers, Hayley Williams, Jill Scott, Robyn, Mitski, Kylie Minogue, ROSALÍA, Björk, RAYE, Olivia Dean, Wolf Alice, Slayyyter, Sabrina Carpenter, Zara Larsson. I think that Raye and Kylie Minogue would be incredible to go alongside Harry Styles. We all predict headliners and we are rarely bang on, so this is just a guess. What is evident too from Glastonbury’s headliners, aside from the fact that most are men, is that the women booked are younger. Only once a woman over forty has been booked to headline (Marcella Detroit of Shakespears Sister). Kylie Minogue seems owed a headline slot, as she was due to headline in 2005 and has not headlined. Why has she been overlooked? I do hope that Glastonbury books a female headliner over forty. It absolutely has to book at least two female headliners, because it fears going backwards. Only one year since its start where there has been more than one female headliner, it cannot afford to regress. There are more positives than negatives regarding Glastonbury. It is the broadest line-up and so many artists get their first big break playing Glastonbury. So many stages and artists across multiple genres, there is a reason why it is the most popular festival we have. We will discover soon enough who is headlining Glastonbury. It is this festival that so many people look forward to. Those who have been going for years alongside first-time attendees. The headliners are the biggest pulls, and it will not be long until we find out…
WHO will feature.