Life On Mars, Let's Dance, All The Young Dudes, Starman, Rebel Rebel, Ziggy Stardust, Heroes, The Man Who Sold The World, Under Pressure… David Bowie's 22-song Glastonbury set in 2000 is still a benchmark for the world's greatest festival – a legend in his element delivering an absolute masterclass in performance, charisma, catalogue and musicianship with a band of top gun musicians. But it wasn't supposed to happen at all.
It's almost inconceivable to think that at the turn of the century Bowie wasn't seemingly regarded as a guaranteed draw. The '90s had been interesting for him though – following the commercial and critical kicking that had been given to his band Tin Machine in the early '90s, he found his feet solo again for 1993's Black Tie White Noise, received mixed reactions to 1995's opaquely conceptual Outside before braving drum n' bass excursions on 1997's Earthling. The perception from some quarter at the end of the decade was some older fans had drifted away, while he was yet to be re-introduced to a younger audience. On top of that, Bowie didn't even want to play Glastonbury anyway. Surely a negative combination that would result in a complete non-starter on both sides.
