Pretenders announce surprise set at Glastonbury festival

20 June 2023 , 19:19
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Pretenders are set to perform at Glastonbury this weekend, in a surprise announcement (Image: Redferns)
Pretenders are set to perform at Glastonbury this weekend, in a surprise announcement (Image: Redferns)

Pretenders have announced they will be performing a secret set at this year's Glastonbury Festival, which kicks off tomorrow.

The iconic Worthy Farm festival, which takes place in June every year, spoils fans for choice with acts performing from morning until night across the action-packed weekend.

This year the festival's main stage, the Pyramid Stage, will be headlined by Arctic Monkeys – although their appearance is up in the air – Guns n' Roses and Elton John. But, every year, the festival also delights fans with a string of surprise acts performing secret sets dotted around the sprawling eight-and-a-half-mile grounds.

Previous years have seen Lady Gaga, Mumford & Sons, The Libertines and Bastille delight revellers with secret performances.

Now Chrissie Hynde and her band, known for hits such as I'll Stand By You, will grace The Park Stage at 7.45pm on Saturday June 24 the band have also teased they will be bringing along some 'friends' too.

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Founding member Chrissie, 71, said of the upcoming performance: "It’s always been there for most of our lifetimes. There has never been a festival like it anywhere else."

Pretenders announce surprise set at Glastonbury festivalThe group are heading to Glastonbury (Matt Cardy)

The band announced the surprise gig on its official Instagram page this evening. They posted a photo of Chrissie sporting a black Glastonbury vest top along with jeans and matching knee-high leather boots to share the exciting news.

It comes ahead of the band's new studio album, Relentless, which is due for release on September 15.

Earlier this month, the group released their new song I Think About You Daily, which they teamed up with Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood.

Chrissie said of creating the track with Jonny: "I met Jonny a couple of times, and we’re obviously big fans of him because he’s done some incredible music over the years. I saw him at the Phantom Thread premiere where the film was running on screen with a live orchestra playing.

"And we spoke afterward and he expressed an interest in doing something one day. I was thrilled and very surprised. He also came down to see a Valve Bone Woe show we were doing in the basement of a Pizza Express. So when the idea of getting strings on I Think About You Daily, he was first choice. Legend!"

Pretenders announce surprise set at Glastonbury festivalChrissy posed in a Glastonbury top to confirm the news (Ki Price)
Pretenders announce surprise set at Glastonbury festivalChrissie Hynde and the group recently released a new single (Redferns)

Meanwhile, a number of huge names have been rumoured to be set to make surprise appearances at Glasto this year.

Names such as Harry Styles, Britney Spears and Pulp have all sparked speculation they could be appearing at the legendary festival.

Foo Fighters also sparked speculation they could be heading to Worthy Farm after Dave Grohl made a surprise appearance during Sir Paul McCartney's headline set last year.

The group posted a cryptic message on their Instagram page, which read: "Hey. It’s been a while… Now that we’ve returned from our first run of shows, I felt compelled to reach out and thank you all for being there for us.

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"Every night, when I see you singing, it makes me sing harder. When I see you screaming, it makes me scream louder.

"When I see your tears, it brings me to tears. And when I see your joy, it brings me joy.

"But, I see you… and it feels good to see you, churning up these emotions together. Because we’ve always done this together. Time and time again. See you soon, David."

Amy Denman

Festivals, Arctic Monkeys, Elton John, Glastonbury Festival

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