07 March 2024 , 13:28
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Glastonbury Festival has been rocked by another potential headliner dropping out.
Stevie Wonder was rumoured to be taking to the stage on Sunday night of the weekend festival this year but has now reportedly changed his mind, leaving the festival with a huge gap to fill. The iconic musician last appeared at the festival in 2010 and was set to follow in the footsteps of Elton John with an epic Sunday night performance, closing the festival with a bang.
However, it's now been reported that negotiations between the festival and the singer's team have broken down due to conflicting touring schedules. Stevie is in the process of organising summer show dates, which meant he could not commit to Glastonbury's Sunday slot.
It comes after Glastonbury failed to secure Madonna and then Steve Nicks as headliners for this year's festival. Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis previously revealed her hopes to secure a huge US star.
Stevie last performed at Glastonbury in 2010 (Getty Images)"The mood behind the scenes is fraught to say the least. Emily's desperate to pull off another top line-up but right now everywhere she turns is hit with issues," a source told The Sun, before adding that Emily still hopes to convince Stevie's team but "it's not looking good". The line-up for this year's weekend of music has yet to be revealed and fans have been forced to wait a record 20 years, so far, for an announcement.
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Dua Lipa and Coldplay have both been heavily rumoured as this year's headliners – from Wednesday 26 to 30 – but there's been no confirmation from Worthy Farm. The festival has developed a habit in previous years of dropping a few big names early on in the year but this time it's been radio silence from the iconic festival.
Organiser Emily told Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw last year that she was looking to announce the line-up slightly differently this year. "Sometimes we’ll do something before Christmas, but what I’m really hoping for is to just announce the full line-up at the beginning of the year," she said on the Sidetracked podcast.
Last year, Emily appeared to confirm at least one female headliner before sharing her wish for two female headliners across the weekend, following a backlash in 2023. The festival was hit with criticism as all four headliners – Arctic Monkeys, Guns N' Roses and Elton John, with Yusuf / Cat Stevens performing in the Legends slot – were male.
She said: “I’ve always been really passionate about gender split [on festival lineups] and I think, actually, our problem was that I’d been so outspoken about it that having a year when there wasn’t a female sent people a bit mad - or some people.
"And we did have a female - she pulled out and we replaced them with Guns N’ Roses. But everyone knows that it’s top of my list. It is difficult with female artists because there aren’t enough headliners. But we’re also creating them. We’re putting the bands and female artists on smaller stages and bringing them through all the time. And who knows? Next year we might get two. And certainly, I can say that the legend is female.”
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