Billie Eilish to headline Glastonbury Festival 2022
Billie Eilish has been confirmed to headline Glastonbury Festival 2022 – making her the youngest ever solo act to top the bill at the festival.
Glastonbury Festival organiser Emily Eavis confirmed the news today (October 4) that the 19-year-old Eilish will top the bill on the Friday night.
“We couldn’t be happier to announce that the wondrous @billieeilish is headlining the Pyramid on the Friday at next year’s Glastonbury Festival, becoming the youngest solo headliner in our history. This feels like the perfect way for us to return and I cannot wait!” wrote Eavis on Twitter.
Eilish had shared a post on her Instagram Stories on Sunday (October 3) in which she wore a hoodie bearing the words ‘Glastonbury Festival, Worthy Farm’.
The post was captioned ‘2022’, which appeared to confirmed widespread rumours that she would play the festival next year.
We couldn’t be happier to announce that the wondrous @billieeilish is headlining the Pyramid on the Friday at next year's Glastonbury Festival, becoming the youngest solo headliner in our history. This feels like the perfect way for us to return and I cannot wait! pic.twitter.com/okFoERUPlF
— Emily Eavis (@emilyeavis) October 4, 2021
Fans had been quick to pick up on the fact that the singer’s ‘Happier Than Ever’ tour of Europe in 2022 had a gap in the schedule on Glastonbury’s Friday night (June 24).
Eilish had announced shows in Paris on June 22 followed by two shows at London’s O2 on June 25 and 26. The June 26 show was announced in August as an additional date due to “overwhelming demand”.
Eilish likely joins Aerosmith in performing at the festival next year. The band are expected to return after previously being confirmed for 2020 and by judging their rescheduled 2022 UK tour dates.
Elton John has also been heavily rumoured to be performing in 2022, with a similar gap in the schedule for his ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour.
Queens Of The Stone Age were tipped in August to be headlining the Other Stage on the same evening that Eilish would play the Pyramid. eFestivals said that the rumour was based on “strong info from a top source, also with backing from a second source”.
Crowded House have also confirmed that they’ll be performing at the festival next June while it is hoped that Diana Ross will return to fill the Sunday afternoon ‘legends slot‘ that she was confirmed for in 2020.
It will be the festival’s first edition since 2019, with 2020’s event (due to be headlined by Paul McCartney, Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift) and 2021 both cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In August Michael Eavis hinted that the “big names” who were set to play at Glastonbury Festival in 2020 are being lined up for next year’s festival.
Eilish last played Glastonbury Festival in 2019, a show NME deemed a “once in a generation” performance, and which saw her being bumped up the billing from the Other Stage to the Pyramid.
In a five star review, NME said: “From what we’ve just witnessed, there’s every chance that she lands the top spot on the Pyramid eventually. “It’s like the whole world is looking at me right now,” she says mid-set, both excited and wistful. It’s hard to imagine anyone turning away from this spectacle now.”
Meanwhile, over the weekend Eilish spoke out against Texas’ newly implemented abortion laws during her headline set at Austin City Limits 2021.
At one point during the show, Eilish admitted: “When they made that shit a law, I almost didn’t want to do the show because I wanted to punish this fucking place for allowing that to happen here.
“But then I remembered that it’s you guys that are the fuckin’ victims, and you deserve everything in the world,” she continued. “And we need to tell them to shut the fuck up.”
