Glastonbury 2024: Watch Dua Lipa bring out Kevin Parker for Tame Impala cover
All eyes were on Dua Lipa as she headlined the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury Festival for the first time on June 28th. In typical headliner tradition, the English-Albanian pop star welcomed a special guest in the form of Kevin Parker of Tame Impala fame to a rousing reception.
Parker co-wrote and co-produced Dua’s third album, Radical Optimism, earlier this year. But it was Tame Impala’s ‘The Less I Know The Better’ that they collaborated on in the evening with Dua Lipa joking that it was the greatest night of her life because she got to pretend she was in the band.
The collaboration proved the rumour mill correct. Earlier in the week, speculation mounted after Far Out revealed Parker was set to play a secret DJ set mere hours after Dua Lipa’s headline performance. The pair of close friends shared a warm embrace on stage after their emotional performance.
Speaking ahead of her performance, Dua Lipa told Music Week: “It’s amazing to be up there, to be put at the top, to headline Glasto. We’ve just got to keep supporting women and pushing them to that degree so they can see it’s possible.”
She just so happens to headlining during a year whereby two women top the bill for the first time in the festival’s history, imbuing her performance with added profundity. “Since the very beginning, Glastonbury has been the pinnacle for me. It’s my favourite festival,“ she said.
Concluding: “I love the sense of community and the world that you’re in for those days that you’re there. There’s nothing quite like it. And any song I’ve ever made, when I hear it back, I’m like, ‘How’s this gonna sound at Glastonbury?’ That’s always been my barometer for how good a song is; that’s the place I envision, and to get to the headline is just absolutely surreal.”
The pop sensation first broke onto the scene when she signed to Warner back in 2014. She is one of today’s biggest artists, drawing 74.7million monthly plays on Spotify, with her mammoth single, ‘Don’t Start Now’, garnering over 2.6billion streams and counting.
While she hit the main stage, smaller indie acts offered some competition for crowd count. Idles headlined the Other Stage, Jungle played West Holts, Jamie XX topped the bill at Woodsies, and Far Out’s ground staff absconded to see Fontaines D.C. play on The Park Stage to a packed audience.
Coldplay will be taking to the main stage on June 29th, while SZA closes proceedings on the 30th. The rumour mill is already swirling as to whether they’ll be inviting any special guests out, but they’d do well to top Dua Lipa’s collaboration.
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