Credit: Bryan Ledgard

Glastonbury 2023: Cat Stevens says he’s “looking forward” to legends slot

Sun 25 June 2023 15:31, UK

Ahead of his performance in the legends slot at Glastonbury Festival, Yusuf, known by his stage name of Cat Stevens, has explained why he is ready for a major show and that he’s “looking forward to it greatly”.

Speaking to Reverend Kate Bottley and Jason Mohammed on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds’ Good Morning Sunday, the musician was asked how it feels to be playing the slot. He replied: “It’s kind of predestination, you may say. It’s a natural for me, I suppose, as I have got to this point, now, where I’ve got a really good catalogue of songs which stretches back to 1965 or 1966 let’s say. And so I’ve been there, done that.”

Stevens continued: “And I’ve gone through this whole kind of – of course, I went away for a while too. So I got a life and I came back. I mean, I’ve got a story to tell. I think it’ll be very suitable. Oh, and I’m looking forward to it greatly”.

Bottley then said she presumes that the musician has been asked to do the legends slot before and, accordingly, asked what made him agree to do it this year. He explained: “Um, what was it? Was it Covid? There was a time before that, yes. And I wasn’t ready, but I was ramping up, kind of thing. And then there came Covid. And I think we were kind of ready to do it at that time.”

The ‘Father and Son’ songwriter said it has “been a long time” coming. He concluded: “So it’s been a long time in coming, but I’ve always admired and loved the show. It’s an iconic moment of musical British musical history. It’s very close to Stonehenge and they still haven’t quite worked out what that thing means. But anyway, it’s all fun.”

In other Glastonbury news, festival co-organiser Emily Eavis has defended Friday headliners Arctic Monkeys from criticism for how they performed their classic tracks. She labelled the show as Glastonbury’s “best headline set yet”.

Listen to Yusuf/Cat Stevens discuss his Glastonbury Festival 2023 performance on Good Morning Sunday on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds.