Glastonbury 2023: Flea hints at Red Hot Chili Peppers’ show
Fans are spreading rumours of a Red Hot Chili Peppers show for the 2023 Glastonbury Festival after bassist Flea shared a cryptic social media post. Arctic Monkeys and Guns N’ Roses are also heavily rumoured for headline slots this year, but so far, only Elton John has been confirmed.
Last week, rumours of Guns N’ Roses’ headline show were intensified by bassist Duff McKagan, who appeared to self-confirm their plans before he was perhaps supposed to. Currently, Roxy Music are favourites for the legends slot, and Pulp appear likely to make an appearance amid their reunion tour.
Until last weekend, Red Hot Chili Peppers weren’t on the rumour radar, but after Flea retweeted a pencil sketch of the Pyramid Stage drawn by Radiohead and Glastonbury artist Stanley Donwood, along with the word “Yes”, rumours have spread like wildfire.
“Is this a Glastonbury confirmation??!” one fan wrote in the replies. “Finally, Glasto!?” another quizzed hopefully. “Are you doing Glasto this year?” one added, while another wrote: “Is it… true?”
Of course, this could all be a false alarm. Flea might just be excited about the festival ahead from a music fan’s perspective. It’s also likely that Flea is just encouraging the artist Donwood, who designed the artwork for his 2013 album in collaboration with Thom Yorke in the supergroup Atoms for Peace.
Donwood has created all of Radiohead and university friend Thom Yorke’s artwork since 1994. In recent years, his popular style has reimagined the Glastonbury aesthetic for posters and merchandise.
Red Hot Chilli Peppers returned in 2022 with guitarist John Frusciante for two new albums, Unlimited Love and Return Of The Dream Canteen. They were booked to play Glastonbury back in 1993 but were forced to pull out after Flea was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome.
See Flea’s teaser and listen to the Red Hot Chili Peppers song ‘Black Summer’ from Unlimited Love below.
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