Who was the first act to headline Glastonbury?
In 1970, Michael Eavis stood in the crowd watching Led Zeppelin headline thc Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music and thought, ‘I could do that’. Inspired by the power of that big open air gathering, he decided to launch his own, on his own land, and call it Glastonbury.
That’s the world’s most simplified retelling of how the Glastonbury festival came to be. Hosted on Eavis’ Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, the festival has grown into one of the most revered festivals on the circuit and one of the most sought-after tickets in the musical calendar. By now, around 210,000 people descend on the site each time for the five-day-long festival. The lineup now boasts around 3000 acts playing across over 100 stages, showcasing everything from the biggest names in music to theatre, circus acts and poets. Put on by a team of around 55 full-time, year-round staff and with the help of thousands of volunteers, the festival is now a huge operation and a hugely successful one at that.
But, like all great things, it started as something small. After witnessing that inspiring concert in 1970, Eavis decided to put his daydream into action. After seeing that show in June, he managed to organise his own concert for September 19th, 1970. Back then, it was only a one-day affair and was initially called the Pop, Blues & Folk Festival, but it was the seed that started it all as the festival has run consistently ever since, growing bit by bit, year by year.
In 1970, tickets were only £1, and the majority of the people who came along were local residents who had heard about the event through town chit-chat. But even though it was only a humble start and was the first time Eavis, who was a farmer by trade, had ever tried to put on an event like this, he managed to get some big names on board.
Initially, the headliners booked were were Wayne Fontana, the Mindbenders and The Kinks, which was a huge coup for the newbie to pull off. But last minute, all three had to be replaced by only one name. Then, he was billed as Tyrannosaurus Rex, history would come to remember him as T Rex. So the first-ever headliner of Glastonbury was Marc Bolan and his band.
Elsewhere on the line up was Steamhammer, Quintessence, Stackridge, Al Stewart; all still impressive names for a first-timer to manag to rope into what was essentially an experience. But clearly people had trust that Eavis would pull it off and 55 years later, he certainly still it.
Who has headlined Glastonbury the most?
With a lengthy history now, there have inevitably been some repeat appearances on the Pyramid stage. Throughout the decades, Glastonbury has witnessed the rise and rise of some of the biggest names in music, often giving them that first leg up to headliner status, like they did to a young Arctic Monkeys in 2007 before they returned again in 2023 for a victory lap.
But in 2024, the record for the most amount of times an act has headlined Glastonbury was broken by Coldplay, who played the Pyramid stage’s prime slot for the fifth time. After their first in 2002, they returned in 2005, 2011, 2016 and then in 2024.
The Cure come in at second place with four headline slots under their belt in 1986, 1990, 1995 and 2019.
However, undeniably, the most exciting part of Glastonbury is wondering who will be the next headliner and who amongst the rest of the lineup could one day rise through the ranks to the top of the food chain, potentially beating the record one day in the future.
