Coldplay set to break Glastonbury record with fifth headline on Pyramid Stage

Glastonbury Festival 2024
-Credit: (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)


Coldplay are on track to be the first band to headline Glastonbury Festival five times.

Their Saturday performance will mark their first appearance on the Pyramid Stage since 2016, and it will see them surpass The Cure, who have headlined the slot four times. Band members Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Guy Berryman will take the stage after pop sensation Dua Lipa, who headlined the festival on Friday with a series of hits, impressive dance routines and multiple outfit changes.

The singer described the experience as "the maddest night of my life" as she entertained the crowd with a selection of her popular songs, including These Walls, Break My Heart, Hallucinate, Electricity, Physical and Don't Start Now.

"This has been a massive dream come true," Dua Lipa said before adding, "Glastonbury, I love you."

Earlier on the Pyramid Stage, Paul Heaton and Norman Cook reunited to perform a Housemartins classic. Heaton surprised festival-goers by bringing out his former bandmate Cook, better known as Fatboy Slim, to perform their 1986 hit Happy Hour.

Damon Albarn also made a surprise appearance at the festival, asking the crowd whether the war in Gaza was "unfair" and suggesting Joe Biden was too old to be US president when he was invited on stage by Bombay Bicycle Club's Jack Steadman.

Neo-soul singer Olivia Dean dedicated her song Carmen to her grandmother and other members of the Windrush generation while wearing a T-shirt with her grandmother's face on it. At the festival, British actress Florence Pugh shared her aspirations of "tiptoeing" towards a career in directing and producing films, as she spoke during a Dune: Part Two Q&A session.

In a separate event, Charlotte Church made waves by singing "Free Palestine" alongside hundreds of attendees, delivering an impromptu and politically resonant performance at Glastonbury. The Welsh songstresses appearance at Worthy Farm follows an incident months prior where she required police protection after participating in a pro-Palestine rally in London, which also led to threats against her family.

The festival paid homage to the trailblazing DJ Annie Nightingale, who was the first female presenter on BBC Radio 1 and passed away in January at the age of 83.

Fitness guru Joe Wicks, just days after welcoming his fourth child, energised crowds with a mass workout session on the Pyramid Stage.

To cap off the weekend, American R&B sensation SZA is set to take the main stage as the headliner, while country music icon Shania Twain is slated for the prestigious Legends slot.

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.