Why has Elton John never played Glastonbury Festival?
Glastonbury Festival is undoubtedly the most famous music event on the planet. From The Kinks in 1970 to Kendrick Lamar in 2022, the biggest and most successful names in the music industry have taken to the Pyramid Stage to deliver a headline set. Although, as it turns out, the UK culture extravaganza has failed to host one of the nation’s most revered songwriters: Elton John.
Inaugurated in 1970, Glastonbury Festival isn’t just the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world; it’s an institution. Held every summer on Worthy Farm, the first Glastonbury Festival took place the day after Jimi Hendrix’s death at the age of 27. At that time, it was a small-scale affair, with an audience of 1,500 people paying just £1 (which included free milk from the farm) to watch performances by the likes of Marc Bolan, Quintessence and Keith Christmas.
These days, Glastonbury is much, much bigger – a giant, tented city sprawling across Worthy Farm like some enormous medieval encampment, with stages instead of trebuchets. In 2022, 210,000 people flooded the festival site, each holding a ticket worth £280. The 2022 edition treated audiences to performances from some of the UK’s most celebrated artists, including Paul McCartney.
Strangely, Elton John is yet to make an appearance at the festival. During his interview on the BBC’s The First Time program, the ‘Rocket Man’ singer told host Matt Everitt that the only reason he’d never performed at Glastonbury was that he’d never been asked. “I haven’t been asked, no,” he began. “I mean, they may have asked – but no one’s ever told me.”
Touring has always been a huge part of John’s life. The musician rose to fame after making a living as a pub pianist and, later, a songwriter for Liberty Records. With the success of his 1972 number-one album Honky Château, Which featured hits like ‘Rocket Man’ and ‘Honky Cat’, John stepped into an illustrious career that would see him play practically every venue a singer-songwriter could hope to play. And yet, he’s been strangely absent from Glastonbury. Who knows, maybe this year will be the one.
Elton John isn’t the only well-known artist yet to play Glastonbury. Take Depeche Mode, for example. The group claimed they were offered a spot at the 2009 event but turned it down because the lineup included Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young, which wasn’t quite to their taste. Other Glastonbury exiles include Cliff Richard and Queen (featuring Adam Lambert on vocals) and Fleetwood Mac.
Watch Elton John deliver a powerhouse performance below.
