Who was the first person to headline Glastonbury Festival twice?
No festival headliner conversation generates a stir like the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. It’s the cultural moment that even part-time punters actually pay attention to. Wading through a sea of your own personal sentiment, recent tour announcements, or maybe the impending demise of the next classic rock legend, you stake your claim—both bold and sensible—to your friends over your fourth pint at the pub.
Just as predictable as Chris Martin cartwheeling out in a worryingly undersized T-shirt, your friend pitifully throws Coldplay’s name in the hat, for they have become a Pyramid Stage stalwart in the 21st century. The studio sightings of an LA patrolling Alex Turner always warrant a shout that Arctic Monkeys will be “back on the farm” while your contrarian, always IPA-drinking mate in the corner, will go left field, hopefully suggesting that Wet Leg announce their much-anticipated follow-up with a headline slot.
While the modern landscape of music continues to change, stadium shows have become the norm for mega-stars, and the allure of Coachella still flatters to deceive; Glastonbury remains the most prestigious stage of them all. Most musicians are savvy enough to know that the rug can be pulled at any given moment, but the centre of the Pyramid Stage on a Friday night is as close as anyone will come to experiencing that “made it” moment.
A healthy roster of current artists is still yearning for their first taste of that glory. Compelling cases could be made for the likes of Idles, Little Simz, and Fontaines DC to step up, while commercial heavyweights like Harry Styles, Fred Again, and Taylor Swift are all but guaranteed spots in the next wave of festival headliners. But with a steady carousel of fresh talent vying for their debut, the members’ lounge of the multiple headliners club is more crowded than one might expect.
But who was the first to beat down the path of repeated greatness? Make no mistake, playing the Pyramid Stage once is daunting enough, but following up with another standout performance that doesn’t tarnish your live legacy is equally as perilous. So naturally, you’d reserve such an accolade for an artist perennially at the edge, someone whose continued evolution would make headlining the Pyramid twice feel like a debut every time.
Of course, the name on everyone’s lips in such a discussion would be David Bowie. While he did headline Glastonbury twice—first in 1971 and again in 2000—another artist completed the feat 11 years earlier, in 1989. That artist was Elvis Costello, who first topped the bill in 1987 before returning just two years later. Then, only five years after his second appearance, he headlined again in 1994, securing what remains the fastest hat-trick in Glastonbury headlining history.
But who else has headlined more than once?
Costello’s rapid-fire threepeat was closely threatened by The Cure, who racked up their first three headline slots in nine years, headlining in 1986, 1990 and 1995, before making their fourth appearance in 2019. But despite being four-time headliners, they don’t hold the top spot. That is, of course, reserved for Coldplay, who have headlined five times now: 2002, 2005, 2011, 2016 and most recently in 2024. Since they filled in for The Strokes in 2002, Martin and Co have become part of the Pilton furniture, pulling some of the biggest crowds the festival has seen.
Behind Coldplay and The Cure are Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead, Muse and Radiohead, who have all headlined the festival three times, respectively. While Blur, Oasis, REM, Primal Scream, The Killers, Pulp, and Paul McCartney join Costello and Bowie as artists who have stepped on foot in the Pyramid twice.
…and who is rumoured to headline this year?
In typical Neil Young style, he flippantly announced his appearance at this year’s festival in what was surely a PR nightmare for Eavis and Co. After publicly announcing he would not be playing at the festival due to the BBC and “corporate control”, he made a swift U-turn within the space of 24 hours, to confirm he would in fact be playing. In a public statement, he said: “Due to an error in the information received, I had decided to not play the Glastonbury festival, which I always have loved. Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see you there!”
Festival organiser Emily Eavis then took to social media to confirm Young’s appearance, while softly pointing out that he would, in fact, headline: “What a start to the year! Neil Young is an artist who’s very close to our hearts at Glastonbury. He does things his own way and that’s why we love him. We can’t wait to welcome him back to headline the Pyramid in June”.
With the official poster not yet announced, it is yet to be confirmed what day Young will be headlining, if he is, in fact, headlining at all.
As always, speculation over who will fill the three big slots has been heating up since the start of the year, with an unexpected name entering the mix—Rihanna. Reports surfaced that she was planning a residency of up to six shows at London’s former Olympic Stadium (now the London Stadium) between July 4th and 12th, sparking whispers about whether a Glastonbury headline set could be squeezed in beforehand.
Elsewhere, Sam Fender’s name is on everyone’s lips, with a noticeably Glastonbury-sized gap in his summer stadium tour dates. With his third album, People Watching, recently released to critical acclaim, he certainly wouldn’t be short on singalong material if he were to take the Pyramid Stage by storm.
It also can’t be forgotten that Oasis are about to embark on their mammoth comeback tour this summer and while they publicly stated on their Instagram that they will categorically not be playing Glastonbury, you can’t help but distrust the everchanging word of the Gallagher brothers.
Alongside these more substantial rumours come the annual calls for Taylor Swift to finally claim the top spot, alongside fellow pop heavyweights Olivia Rodrigo and The 1975. With Neil Young’s semi-confirmed slot already in place, only two headline nights remain up for grabs. As spring approaches, anticipation is building, with fans eagerly awaiting the official announcement.
