Paul McCartney's Glastonbury Festival show has been delayed for two years. But the wait was worth the wait. The former Beatle gave it his all, bringing big-name guest stars of rock 'n' roll onstage for a two-and-a-half-hour concert at the South West England festival last Saturday night.
McCartney was due to play Glastonbury in 2020. That year's festival and the 2021 edition were thwarted by the coronavirus pandemic. Now, at 80, he is the oldest solo headliner in the festival's history. McCartney and his band treated the huge crowd to Beatles classics like Get Back, Hey Jude, Blackbird and Let it Be, along with solo hits like Live and Let Die and newer material.
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl arrived to play Saw Her Standing There and Band on the Run. Then Bruce Springsteen and McCartney, the boss and the Beatle, dueted on Springsteen's Glory Days and on the first Lennon-McCartney song I Wanna Be Your Man.
McCartney paid tribute to his Beatles bandmate George Harrison, who died in 2001, by performing Something, written by Harrison. Thanks to technology, he sang with images of John Lennon, assassinated in 1980, I've Got a Feeling. “I think I probably just saw one of the most legendary performances ever,” said fan Jake Richardson after the show.
Actor and comedian Steve Coogan, who was also in the crowd, described the experience as "pretty overwhelming". "I don't think there is anyone else in the world who can bring such pure joy to people," he told the BBC. Glastonbury concludes today with rapper Kendrick Lamar.
Some 200,000 people attend the four-day festival at Worthy Farm in south-west England, which celebrates its 50th anniversary. The 3,000 performers included Billie Eilish, Ziggy Marley, Megan Thee Stallion, Foals, Olivia Rodrigo, Diana Ross, Herbie Hancock, and the Pet Shop Boys. Organizers also included environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who delivered an impassioned speech on climate change, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who addressed the festival via video on Friday.
