Emily Eavis’s latest Glastonbury headliner announcement felt like an apology. Usually, organisers have fun by hiding clues near Worthy Farm – a poster in a charity shop window revealing Stormzy’s Pyramid Stage slot in 2019, for instance, or a mysterious “crop circle” for Radiohead in 2017. This time, though, Eavis’s announcement was made via a discussion about the fact that 2023’s headliners are male, all-white, all over again. Guns N’ Roses, Arctic Monkeys, Elton John.
As the news broke, music fans on social media swiftly began questioning why Lana Del Rey or Lizzo weren’t headlining over one of the current trio. “[Lizzo] could totally headline,” Eavis said of the Grammy-winning artist, who is playing two shows at London’s O2 Arena this month. “Many of the artists could. But the headline slot had already been promised to someone else.”
