Paul McCartney, Kendrick Lamar and Olivia Rodrigo have been announced as among the stars performing at this summer’s Glastonbury festival.
Out of the 89 names announced so far, 48 are women or acts that include female artists, meeting festival co-organiser Emily Eavis’s previously stated intention for Glastonbury to achieve gender parity on its bill. “Our future has to be 50/50,” she told the BBC in 2020.
The festival, which was cancelled for the last two years, makes its return with McCartney as Saturday night headliner – his second time atop the Pyramid stage, having performed in 2004 – and Pulitzer prize-winning rapper Lamar, who will make his debut at the festival to close the Pyramid Stage on the Sunday night.
It had already been announced that Billie Eilish will make her second appearance at Worthy Farm in Somerset on the Pyramid stage, along with Diana Ross, who will be following in the footsteps of fellow veteran superstars including Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie and James Brown in the Sunday “teatime legend” slot.
Eilish is among a strong pop presence at the festival, with Rodrigo, Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, Charli XCX and Caroline Polachek all appearing.
The festival will also feature debut sets from Herbie Hancock, Phoebe Bridgers, Sam Fender, Turnstile, TLC, Wet Leg and Yves Tumor.
Other acts announced include Kacey Musgraves, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Pet Shop Boys, Foals, Haim, Lorde and Robert Plant, who will appear alongside Alison Krauss.
The names announced are the first shortlist of acts for this year’s festival, which takes place on 22-26 June. The full lineup is expected to be published in May.
McCartney and Lamar were among the headline acts for the cancelled festival in 2020, which would have been its 50th anniversary year. Taylor Swift was also due to headline in 2020, but thus far does not appear to be performing this year.
Prior to the announcement, McCartney teased the news on Twitter in the form of a Wordle clue. He used six squares rather than the traditional five, presumably to hint at the word “Glasto” – and not “Mexico”, to the chagrin of hopeful South American fans.
He gave the game the number 121 and wrote 25/6 in the field that usually indicates how many attempts it took for the player to correctly guess the word to reveal the date of his performance: When he tweeted the clue, on 24 February, it was 121 days until 25 June, which he is due to play.
Wordle 121 25/6
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) February 24, 2022
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
This year’s Glastonbury will act as a belated birthday celebration for McCartney, who turns 80 on 18 June, making him the oldest ever headliner at the festival.
By contrast, the Friday night headliner Eilish will be the festival’s youngest ever solo headliner.
Festival organiser Emily Eavis said: “It really is so exciting to be back. And it feels like we all need it. Everywhere I go, people tell me how much they’re looking forward to the festival’s return and how they’ve all been waiting for it. This will be our first Glastonbury for three years. It’s the biggest buildup we’ve ever had!”
This year’s Glastonbury lineup so far
Billie Eilish
Paul McCartney
Kendrick Lamar
Diana Ross
Amyl and the Sniffers
Angelique Kidjo
Arlo Parks
The Avalanches
Beabadoobee
Bicep
Big Thief
Black Midi
Blossoms
Bonobo
Burna Boy
Caribou
Caroline Polachek
Cate Le Bon
Celeste
Charli XCX
Clairo
Confidence Man
Courtney Barnett
Crowded House
Declan McKenna
Doja Cat
Dry Cleaning
Easy Life
Elbow
Emma-Jean Thackray
First Aid Kit
Foals
Fontaines DC
Four Tet
Gabriels
Ghetts
Girl in Red
Glass Animals
Greentea Peng
Griff
Haim
Herbie Hancock
Holly Humberstone
Idles
Inhaler
Jarv Is…
Jessie Ware
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Joy Crookes
Kacey Musgraves
Khruangbin
Koffee
Leon Bridges
Lianne La Havas
Little Simz
Lorde
Megan Thee Stallion
Metronomy
Mitski
Nightmares on Wax
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
Nubya Garcia
Olivia Rodrigo
Pet Shop Boys
Phoebe Bridgers
Primal Scream
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Róisín Murphy
Rufus Wainwright
Sam Fender
Sampa the Great
Seun Kuti and Egypt 80
Self Esteem
Sigrid
Skunk Anansie
Sleaford Mods
Snarky Puppy
Squid
St Vincent
Supergrass
Tems
TLC
Turnstile
Warmduscher
The Waterboys
Wet Leg
Wolf Alice
Years and Years
Yves Tumor
