Glastonbury 2024: Watch Shania Twain kick off legends slot with ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’
To kick off her legends slot at Glastonbury Festival, Shania Twain performed her 1998 classic ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’.
In recent years, the world-famous legends slot has seen an array of influential artists from across the spectrum of genres take to the Pyramid Stage on the Sunday afternoon. These include heavyweights such as Diana Ross, Dolly Parton, Jeff Lynne, Lionel Richie, Paul Simon, Ray Davies and Tom Jones. Yusuf Islam, better known as Cat Stevens, had the career-affirming honour of doing it in 2023.
Notably, Twain’s classic song was released in December 1998 as the seventh single from her hit album Come On Over,which also produced the likes of ‘Man! I Feel Like A Woman!’, ‘You’re Still the One’ and the title track. The record was so successful it was certified by Guinness World Records as the highest-selling studio album of all time by a solo female artist.
Written by the Canadian singer-songwriter alongside then-husband Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange, it became Twain’s most successful single in the UK, debuting at its peak in May 1999 at number three, where it stayed for three weeks.
Come On Over is widely celebrated for its throughline of female empowerment, and ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’ distils this powerful essence. The song was a consequential release years before the MeToo movement arrived and misogyny was still egregiously overt, as typified by the horrendous crimes against women that occurred at Woodstock 1999.
The track describes three egotistical suitors with whom Twain is not impressed. Famously, she tells the narcissistic one, “Okay, so you’re Brad Pitt”. Explicitly outlining what makes a good man, the track remains one of the most important in her oeuvre. During a listening party for her 2017 album Now, Twain explained why she used Brad Pitt’s name, revealing that it was inspired by the scandal involving him and former partner Gwyneth Paltrow, which saw his naked photo leaked in Playgirl, and how she wasn’t impressed with the controversy surrounding nudity.
It’s safe to say ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’ went down a storm at Glastonbury. Lighting up the Pyramid Stage with her career-spanning, hit-filled set, the feminist anthem reverberated around the field as fans revelled in its iconic lyrics and chorus. A jubilant rendition that was part of a historic set, Twain and her band were on fire throughout, and the audience received them with utter delight at a Glastonbury soaking up its final day of music for 2024.
In an interview with Ken Bruce on Greatest Hits Radio ahead of her legends slot, Twain revealed her friends had been regaling her with tales about the magic of the storied Pilton festival as the date neared. She said: “The closer it comes, the more everybody tells me about it in their own individual stories as well their own experiences. Everyone seems to be such a dedicated fan of the festival, it sounds as though it’s a very bonding experience for everybody.”
The headliners at Glastonbury Festival 2024 were pop star Dua Lipa on Friday, indie rockers Coldplay on Saturday, and R&B icon SZA closes out this year’s edition tonight. Far Out has been delivering coverage from the ground throughout.
Watch Shania Twain perform ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’ at Glastonbury below.
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