Glastonbury 2023 line-up reveals all-male headliners after female act cancelled

Glastonbury reveals all-male Pyramid headlinersGetty Images

Glastonbury 2023’s lineup poster has confirmed that Arctic Monkeys and Guns N’ Roses will join Elton John to headline the Pyramid Stage at the festival on Worthy Farm in June.

Friday’s announcement means that the three acts closing each day on the Pyramid Stage are almost entirely comprised of white men.

Festival organiser Emily Eavis told The Guardian that a previously-planned female headliner had to cancel due to their touring schedule, which is when Guns N’ Roses were booked.

She did not name the act who had dropped out, but expressed hopes that they would be able to play the festival within the next five years.

The lack of diversity is despite the festival’s previous aspirations to move towards a 50:50 lineup split of male and female artists.

In 2022 Billie Eilish headlined the Pyramid Stage on Friday evening, along with Pulitzer Prize winner Kendrick Lamar on Sunday, while British Grime legend Stormzy headlined the Pyramid Stage in 2019 and Adele was among 2016’s headliners.

Eavis has also explained that Lizzo will have joint headline billing with Guns N’ Roses but will still open for the ‘Paradise City’ rockers, noting that “the headline slot had already been promised to someone else”.

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She added that she is “entirely focused on balancing our bill. It’s not just about gender, it’s about every aspect of diversity. We’re probably one of the only big shows that’s really focused on this.

“We’re trying our best so the pipeline needs to be developed. This starts way back with the record companies, radio. I can shout as loud as I like but we need to get everyone on board.”

Taylor Swift was previously announced for the 2020 edition of the festival, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with Kendrick Lamar and Paul McCartney. However, only the latter two returned to headline the next festival in 2022.

Arctic Monkeys last headlined Glastonbury in 2013, while both Guns N’ Roses and Elton John will be making their Glasto debuts, with the ‘Rocket Man’ musician currently embarking on his final ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour. This will be his last show in the UK.

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In terms of LGBTQ+ representation, it’s worth noting that Elton John and American rapper, Lil Nas X, who will be performing before him on the Pyramid Stage, are both out as gay.

Meanwhile, Afrobeats star Wizkid will headline the Other Stage on Friday, while Lana Del Rey will also headline the same stage later in the weekend.

So far 52% of the names announced for Glastonbury are male, and 46% of those 54 names are non-white or feature non-white members. There are many more acts still to be announced.

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Other non-male acts in Friday’s lineup announcement include Becky Hill, Alison Goldfrapp, Carly Rae Jepsen, Rina Sawayama, Maggie Rogers, and Kelis.

Eavis said that the 2024 line-up will see two women headlining, with one in talks and one already confirmed. She added that neither has played the festival before – there’s speculation that past Super Bowl headliners Madonna and Rihanna could be in contention.

However, Eavis has denied that the Spice Girls would play, but added that Mel C would return to the festival solo.

In other news about the festival, Vodafone has announced it’ll be the official connectivity partner of the event, by supplying boosted mobile data to over 210,000 attendees.

The network will be providing the official line-up app, which was previously provided by EE as well as phone charging at the festival.

Vodafone customers will also be able to secure tickets to the sold-out event, using the VeryMe Rewards programme available on the MyVodafone app.

Glastonbury 2023 takes place from 21-25 June. Tickets are currently sold out, but there is a resale expected in spring.

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