Glastonbury 2024: SZA closes festival amid technical issues as attendees face huge queues to leave site
Glastonbury draws to a close after performances from Coldplay, Dua Lipa, Sugababes, Janelle Monae and Burna Boy
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R&B artist SZA closed Glastonbury Festival 2024, after Shania Twain took on the coveted Legends Slot.
The Grammy-winning star appeared to have a much smaller audience than earlier headliners Coldplay and Dua Lipa, as revellers rushed home to beat traffic and amid four other major stage clashes.
Earlier, pop-punk singer Avril Lavigne tore up the Other Stage with a set comprising hits such as “Sk8r Boi” and “My Happy Ending”, while Shania Twain suffered with sound issues on the Legends Slot.
On Saturday night, rock band Coldplay headlined the Pyramid Stage for a record-breaking fifth time, after pop star Dua Lipa dazzled the crowds on Friday (28 June).
In a career-spanning set, the band performed a number of their biggest hits including “Yellow” and “Clocks”, while also bringing out a number of surprise guests including rapper Little Simz, singer Laura Mvula, and Back to the Future star Michael J Fox.
Dua Lipa addresses accusations of lip-syncing after Glastonbury headline performance
Dua Lipa has addressed false claims she mimed her Glastonbury 2024 headline set.
The British pop star was the first headliner of this year’s festival, impressing the crowd with her Pyramid Stage set on Friday night (Friday 28 June) at Worthy Farm, one day before Coldplay graced the stage for their record-breaking fifth headline set to a 100,000-strong crowd.
However, as Dua Lipa performed her songs, including “Training Season”, “New Rules” and “Levitating”, many viewers watching her set from their sofas at home accused the singer of miming her vocals.
Dua Lipa addresses accusations of lip-syncing after Glastonbury headline performance
Pop star bluntly replied to false accusations while backstage
The sweet reason Coldplay played with Michael J Fox at Glastonbury
Coldplay have revealed the sweet reason they brought Michael J Fox on stage at Glastonbury.
On Saturday (29 June), the British band became the first act to headline the festival for the fifth time, surpassing a record they previously set alongside The Cure.
During their performance, which The Independent hailed as a “spectacle of a lifetime”, frontman Chris Martin introduced several surprise stars, including Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna.
But it was the unexpected inclusion of Back to the Future star Fox that stole the show. The actor, who has Parkinson’s disease, received a rapturous response from the 100,000-strong crowd, and played guitar alongside the band for two tracks: “Humankind” and “Fix You”.
The touching reason Coldplay played with Michael J Fox at Glastonbury
Poignant moment brought things full circle for British band
Tom Cruise and Simon Pegg wave to crowd as Coldplay headline at Glastonbury
SZA to close Glastonbury 2024
Glastonbury 2024 drawsto a close on Sunday night, after a packed weekend of live performances and debates ahead of next week’s general election.
The annual festival at Worthy Farm will leave festival-goers with lingering questions about the fate of both the music industry and the UK, as organiser Emily Eavis defended what many deemed to be an underwhelming lineup.
Some argued that booking Coldplay, returning to headline for a record-breaking fifth time, was a cop-out. Others scratched their heads over SZA, arguably a much bigger star in her native US than here in the UK. Dua Lipa’s latest album, meanwhile, had failed to produce the kind of megawatt hit that promised to get the Pyramid Stage crowd energised.
The Independent’s critics disagreed with that consensus. Covering the 28-year-old Lipa’s set, Jazz Monroe praised the pop singer for her moments of “cheeky theatricality” and a celebration of alternative culture that saw her bring out a “comically low-key guest”, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, who produced her latest record Radical Optimism.
Mark Beaumont gave Coldplay’s Saturday night show five stars, moved by a surprise appearance by Back to the Future star Michael J Fox during a poignant rendition of “Fix You”, as well as guest performances from Laura Mvula and rapper Little Simz.
Some sets were blighted by sound issues. Glastonbury did a disservice to two of its veteran performers, Shania Twain and Cyndi Lauper, as both artists appeared to be affected by technical difficulties during their own performances on the Pyramid Stage.
In the Legends Slot on Sunday, country-pop star Twain was seen fiddling with her mic box and in-ears, as she gestured repeatedly to the sound crew. However, this was resolved when she was practically drowned out by the euphoric singalong to “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” as the closing song in her set.
Don’t know Glastonbury headliner SZA? Here’s why you should
Who is Glastonbury headliner SZA - and how do you pronounce her name?
The Grammy and Brit winner has earned widespread acclaim for her two studio albums ‘CTRL’ and ‘SOS’ – yet, based on the confusion sparked when she was announced as a Glastonbury headliner this year, many still don’t know her name. Here’s why you should absolutely dive into her work, writes Kate Solomon
Coldplay bring Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna on stage for Glastonbury duet
The Palestinian-Chilean singer who joined Coldplay on stage at Glastonbury
Arabic pop star performed several tracks with British band
SZA is opening to a woefully thin crowd on the Pyramid Stage
This is my... eighth? year of covering Glastonbury for The Independent and I don’t recall ever seeing such a small crowd for a Pyramid Stage headliner.
Despite selling out four O2 Arena shows last year, SZA was already expected to draw less of an audience for her Sunday spot, in part simply because people tend to head home on the Sunday night to avoid traffic.
But this is still somewhat embarassing (for Glastonbury -- SZA has absolutely no reason to be embarassed). They’ve put her up against four pretty sizeable clashes: The National on the Other Stage, Justice on West Holts, James Blake on Woodsies and London Grammar on the Park Stage, all either at the same time or within 30 minutes of SZA’s set.
I’m willing to bet a lot of people who skipped her show will come to regret it...
‘We’ve got to keep fighting’: Simon Pegg, Sophie Duker and Greenpeace on Glastonbury’s climate activism
As the general election looms, activists are campaigning harder than ever to get MPs to wake up to the climate crisis. Mark Beaumont reports from the Greenpeace field at Glastonbury
Simon Pegg, Sophie Duker and Greenpeace on Glastonbury’s climate activism
As the general election looms, activists are campaigning harder than ever to get MPs to wake up to the climate crisis. Mark Beaumont reports from the Greenpeace field at Glastonbury
Our reporter/critic Louis Chilton says he’s seen a “surprising number” of people leaving the festival site.
Here’s a (not great) screengrab of the BBC livestream showing those thinning crowds at the Pyramid Stage
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