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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Ben Beaumont-Thomas

Glastonbury festival announces full lineup, adding Queens of the Stone Age, Skepta and more

Glastonbury Pyramid stage, which will play host to Arctic Monkeys, Elton John and more this year.
Glastonbury Pyramid stage, which will play host to Arctic Monkeys, Elton John and more this year. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

Queens of the Stone Age, the Chemical Brothers, Skepta, Caroline Polachek and Digga D are among the new names added to the 2023 Glastonbury lineup, as the weekend’s entire programme has been announced.

Additions to the Pyramid stage – joining previously announced big names such as Guns N’ Roses, Elton John and Lizzo – include Rick Astley opening the bill on Saturday and playing the festival for the first time; pop singers Maisie Peters and Sophie Ellis-Bextor; and the Master Musicians of Joujouka, the Moroccan group from a small village in the Rif mountains who play a deeply involving form of drone music.

A mysterious addition to the Pyramid lineup goes by the artist name the ChurnUps, who have no online footprint and are presumably a starry secret act. Glastonbury organisers were tight-lipped about their identity, but whoever they are, they have a very high profile placing, sandwiched between Royal Blood and Texas in the much-coveted sunset slot on Friday evening.

Queens of the Stone Age will headline the Other stage on Sunday night with Dermot Kennedy, Krept & Konan, Japanese Breakfast, the Lightning Seeds, the Hives, Ben Howard, the Unthanks, the Lathums, the Teskey Brothers and the Joy the other newly announced names for Glastonbury’s second-biggest stage. The supergroup Generation Sex, featuring Billy Idol and Tony James of Generation X, with Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook, will also play, on Saturday afternoon.

Singer Caroline Polachek performing live.
Singer Caroline Polachek performing live. Photograph: Burak Çıngı/Redferns

The rumour mill will also start churning for two high-profile “TBA” slots in the Woodsies tent – formerly the John Peel tent – on Friday and Saturday evenings. Additions to that stage that have been announced include Caroline Polachek, Editors and Slowdive, playing before headliners Phoenix on Sunday; a strong showing for British and Irish indie on Saturday with Shame, the Murder Capital, Working Men’s Club, Wunderhorse and the Last Dinner Party now added; and Courteeners and Pale Waves joined by chart-topping drill rapper Digga D on Friday.

Glastonbury stalwart Fatboy Slim will headline a no-doubt-rapturous Park stage on Saturday, supported by Leftfield and another tantalising “TBA” listing. Tinariwen, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Viagra Boys are among the new names added to that stage.

The Avalon stage announces a former Spice Girl in Melanie C and a former Scissor Sister in Jake Shears, as well as Laura Mvula, the Damned and more. Heavier music comes courtesy of Skindred and supergroup Empire State Bastard among others on the Truth stage, while the Acoustic stage will host quieter fare from Richard Thompson, Steve Earle, Rickie Lee Jones and many others.

Star names for Arcadia’s fire-breathing spider stage include the Chemical Brothers, MK, drum’n’bass stars including Wilkinson and Shy FX, and some exciting back-to-back sets including grime MC Skepta with Jammer, and Floating Points with Daphni. The enormous, dystopian Iicon stage will also host dance names including Four Tet, Actress, Mala and LTJ Bukem.

The Iicon stage at Glastonbury.
The Iicon stage at Glastonbury. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

The impressive Lonely Hearts Club stage, which debuted in 2022, continues its lineup of the best in underground pop, dance and rap, with Earl Sweatshirt and Meekz alongside singers such as Joesef and DJs Daniel Avery, Helena Hauff, Jyoty and more.

Travis Alabanza, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Ed Miliband, James Acaster, Phil Wang, and Jolyon Maugham are among the non-musical names across numerous stages featuring talks, debates, workshops, comedy and spoken word. The Guardian will host three talk events in the Cabaret tent at noon each day, with Sharleen Spiteri, Earl Sweatshirt and Mel C respectively.

Further down the lineup, across a list of nearly 3,000 named performance, slots include none-more-Glastonbury artist names such as DJ Absolutely Shit, Psycho-Acoustic Goat and DJ Tofu.

The entire lineup, including times and stages, is now on the Glastonbury website.

• This article was updated on Tuesday 30 May with corrections: Queens of the Stone Age are not booked to play a second gig on the Cabaret stage. Royal Blood were incorrectly listed as a new addition, but had been announced in the first wave of names.

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