Who are The ChurnUps? Foo Fighters revealed as Glastonbury mystery act

Foo Fighters were revealed as the mystery Friday headline act at Glastonbury 2023 after weeks of secrecy.

The band were billed only as ‘The ChurnUps’ on set lists by organisers, but music lovers appeared to guess in advance after Foo Fighters frontman Grohl took to Twitter to tease fans.

He wrote: “Hey. It’s been a while. Now that we’ve returned from our first run of shows, I felt compelled to reach out and thank you all for being there for us.

“Every night, when I see you singing, it makes me sing harder. When I see you screaming, it makes me scream louder. When I see your tears, it brings me to tears. And when I see your joy, it brings me joy. But, I see you... and it feels good to see you, churning up these emotions together.”

As he performed the Pyramid Stage, a sweat-soaked Dave Grohl shouted: “You guys f**kin’ knew it was us, right?”

There was also an eagle hidden in the festival’s poster by Radiohead collaborator Stanley Donwood. The eagle, of course, has become a memorial symbol of sorts for the band’s late drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died last year, and famously had an eagle tattoo as a nod to his surname. T

The show was dedicated to the late star, and for the last song, Everlong, Grohl said while gesturing to the sky: “I’d like to dedicate this one to Taylor Hawkins, so let’s sing it loud as sh**. Sing it loud for T.”

Everlong the last song Hawkins ever performed live.

“I don’t like to say goodbye. I know that we’ll always come back. If you come back, we’ll come back,” Grohl continued, before leaving the stage, echoing the exact words he told the crowd at Hawkins’ last gig. “Will you come back? If you come back, we’ll come back, so then I won’t have to say goodbye.”

The group performed a number of classic hits including My Hero, The Pretender, Best of You, No Son of Mine, All My Life, and But Here We Are’s lead single Rescued.

Elton John, Guns N’ Roses, and Arctic Monkeys were among other headliners across the weekend.

Others previously concluded that The ChurnUps is a reference to Pulp, the Britpop band which is on a reunion tour. Their reasoning is that when something is churned up, it becomes pulp.

Pulp’s tour schedule had June 23 as a free day, but it was not them.

Who were the other big Glastonbury line-up acts?

Apart from the headliners, some of the other big names to entertain music lovers included Lizzo with her body positivity set, Lewis Capaldi who powered through his set with the help of the crowds, Lil Nas X, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

Wizkid, Chvrches, Carly Rae Jepsen, Lana Del Rey, and Becky Hill were all there, too.

Dermot Kennedy, Kelis, Rudimental, Hot Chip, Maneskin, Cat Burns, and Fatboy Slim were also on the bill.

For the full line-up who played, click here.

How to watch Glastonbury 2023

Tickets for the festival sold out only 61 minutes after going on sale last November, despite prices rising to £340.

Fans can still enjoy the best of the festival from the comfort of their homes on the BBCiPlayer.