Greta Thunberg speaks at Glastonbury 2022: “This is not the new normal”

Mark Sutherland The U.K.’s biggest festival, Glastonbury, made a glorious return this month. As well as 200,000 fans in the field, the festival scored record-breaking figures for the BBC, where festival content was streamed 34.1 million times on BBC iPlayer and listened to 2.3m times on BBC Sounds, up 116% and 205% respectively on 2019, the last time the festival was held.And, after two years away due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival’s future now looks secure.“With hindsight, having those two years off and time to reflect maybe wasn’t the worst thing,” says Glastonbury co-organizer Emily Eavis.

BBC has revealed which of the sets at this year’s Glastonbury were the most-viewed on UK TV – see the results below.After two years away, the festival made its return to Worthy Farm last week, with Billie Eilish, Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar headlining the Pyramid Stage across the course of the weekend.McCartney’s almost three-hour Saturday night (June 25) set, which NME called “history-making” in a five star review, averaged 2.7million viewers on BBC One and peaked at 3.9million, according to Broadcast.While the 80-year-old Beatle’s figures were impressive, the artist with the biggest viewership average was Diana Ross, who performed in the revered legends slot on Sunday (June 26). The Motown icon and disco queen’s 75-minute set garnered an average audience of 3.1million, peaking at 3.8million.In a four-star review of Ross’ performance, NME said she had the “crowd in her hands” throughout the set.

Glastonbury Festival returned to Worthy Farm this weekend – scroll down to see what the festival looked like in three minutes.The festival ran from June 22-26 and was the first to be held since 2019 after Glastonbury’s 2020 and 2021 editions were both cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.After the festival, organiser Emily Eavis shared a statement in which she called Glastonbury 2022 “surely the best one yet” and hailed “a remarkable feat by all artists and crew.”Glastonbury 2022 was headlined by Billie Eilish, Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar, with a legends’ slot from Diana Ross and notable performances by Sam Fender, Olivia Rodrigo and more.See all the highlights inside three minutes below.Reviewing Glastonbury 2022, NME wrote: “The festival is all about unity, and sometimes you find it in unexpected places. Sleaford Mods’ scabrous, sweary take on post-punk might initially sound solo antagonistic, but frontman Jason Williamson regularly punctuates the set by sweetly checking the audience are still enjoying themselves.“The band stand atop a wave of post-punk coursing through the bill: Yard Act stake their claim for Glasto greatness at William’s Green and IDLES make a surprise appearance at the BBC Introducing Stage, tearing through their near-seminal debut album ‘Brutalism’ in full.”Many artists at the festival also took the opportunity to address the US Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn the landmark abortion ruling Roe v. Wade.

Declan McKenna spoke to NME backstage at Glastonbury 2022 about a “crazy” unreleased song he wrote with Sigrid a couple of months ago. Watch our video interview above.Earlier this year, the pair hit the studio with producer and vocalist Sam Tsang – who works under the moniker Congee – to work on material for McKenna’s forthcoming third album.

Joy Crookes caught up with NME backstage at Glastonbury 2022, where she gave us the lowdown on what it was like to make the jump to Pyramid Stage, as well working with England football squad, The Lionesses.While upset that she was “still in a tent” while staying at the festival, the 23-year-old singer was proud to have made the jump to the main stage. “I played at the Pussy Parlour in 2019 before the pandemic and it’s mad I’m on the Pyramid stage this time,” she told NME.”When asked what it’s like to play on the world’s most important festival stage, she replied: “Funny, if you should put it like that. It was surreal, absolutely surreal.

Glastonbury Festival, describing it in glowing terms as “surely the best one yet”.The festival’s organiser shared a short statement on Instagram yesterday (June 27) following the conclusion of this year’s Worthy Farm event on Sunday (June 26), which was the first to be held since 2019 after Glastonbury’s 2020 and 2021 editions were both cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.In her post, which featured images of Sunday performers Kendrick Lamar, Diana Ross and Pet Shop Boys, Eavis wrote: “Sunday rounding off an incredible weekend… thank you to everyone who came here and made it so special. It surely was the best one yet!“A remarkable feat by all artists and crew, thank you to everybody who played a part and everyone who came and created such an amazing atmosphere of joy and love.

Haim are basically Glasto locals. First performing here almost a decade ago, their prime-time Saturday afternoon slot at Glastonbury 2022 was their fifth trip to Worthy Farm.

Jarvis Cocker expressed his outrage at the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade during his Glastonbury set today (June 26).Ahead of playing ‘Cunts Are Still Running the World’, the former Pulp frontman told the crowd that he and his JARV IS band had decided to change the lyrics.“You might recognise thing song,” he said.

Lorde gave an impassioned speech about Roe v. Wade being overturned during her Pyramid Stage set at Glastonbury 2022 tonight (June 26).The New Zealand pop star was performing as the final act before Kendrick Lamar headlines the final day of this year’s festival.At the end of ‘Secrets From A Girl (Who’s Seen It All)’, Robyn’s pre-recorded closing monologue did not play over the PA. Instead, Lorde spoke to the crowd, referencing the US Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn the landmark abortion ruling Roe v.

Lorde brought out Arlo Parks and Clairo as special guests during her Glastonbury 2022 headline set. Watch the clip below.The New Zealand pop-star was performing on the pyramid stage, Sunday (June 26).

Róisín Murphy spoke to NME backstage at Glastonbury 2022, telling us what to expect from her upcoming headline performance, new album and acting debut.The former Moloko turned solo star headlined the West Holts Stage last night (Saturday June 25), but was taking it easy on site before her performance.“I stayed in watching Larry David on the tour bus last night,” she told NME. “I’ve watched a good few episodes of Curbed. I’m trying to save my energy for the big one tonight.”On bringing a touch of David to Worthy Farm, she continued: “I was hoping that they’d have Mick Lynch here, you know – the trade union fellow.

Paul McCartney ended the second main day of Glastonbury 2022 by headlining the Pyramid Stage (June 25), ending his set by inviting both Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen on stage. Check out footage and the setlist below.The legend took to the stage after Noel Gallagher tonight, performing a stellar set of classics from throughout his colourful career – including solo staples alongside many numbers from his time with The Beatles and Wings.After playing ‘Get Back’ by the Fab Four, McCartney beckoned the Foo Fighters frontman on stage.“Now, I’ve got a little surprise for you,” teased McCartney, before inviting “your hero from the west coast of America – Dave Grohl!”After some light banter of Paul offering, “Hi Dave,” before Grohl replied, “Hi Paul.

Glastonbury viewers couldn't quite believe what they were seeing as a female musician seemingly 'played' a pair of scissors during Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' performance on the Pyramid Stage. As the Oasis singer promised fans that there would be "a lot of very happy people in bucket hats", they didn't quite expect to see a band member playing the unusual instrument.

Billie Eilish headlining on Friday night. Still to come on the Pyramid stage is Sir Paul McCartney as part of the 50th anniversary lineup, before Kendrick Lamar closes on Sunday evening. It’ll come as no surprise that tickets are sold out – with an estimated two million festival goers registering at the time – but you can still enjoy the legends slot, and all other performances from the comfort of your sofa – no wellies or raincoat needed.

Beabadoobee has told NME about her upcoming second album ‘Beatopia’ during a backstage interview at Glastonbury 2022.The returning Dirty Hit-signed artist made her debut appearance at the Worthy Farm festival earlier today (June 25), playing on the John Peel Stage.“It was much more of a physical thing when I was seven,” she explained of the “dream world” behind ‘Beatopia’, which she invented in 2007. “I thought I could literally be in this world – I think it was just a way of escaping everything that was happening in life at that time, and then I forgot about it because shit happened.

Simon Pegg has spoken of his newfound love at BTS during a backstage interview with NME at Glastonbury 2022. Watch the clip here.Pegg was attending the festival as an ambassador for Greenpeace, and also to enjoy the much-awaited return of the event.

Greta Thunberg took to the stage at the Glastonbury Festival today and warned the huge crowd of a 'climate and ecological emergency'. The 19-year-old environment activist from Sweden delivered a speech from the Pyramid Stage to rapturous applause.

The Chemical Brothers have confirmed that they will not be performing at Glastonbury Festival tonight (June 24) due to COVID.The electronic duo – who were confirmed to DJ at the Arcadia spider between 11pm and 1am earlier this week – broke the news of the cancellation via social media, writing “We are very sorry to announce that we won’t be Doing at Arcadia this evening at Glastonbury”.“We were so excited to be back in the fields and to celebrate the return of the festival,” they continued, adding “we were hoping that more days rest would allow Tom to recover from Covid this hasn’t been the case so far”.A message from @chembros: pic.twitter.com/zTM1TQp4U2— The Chemical Brothers (@ChemBros) June 24, 2022The Chemical Brothers are next slated to perform a show at Castle Howard in North Yorkshire on Sunday (June 26). The possibility of that show happening still remains uncertain, as the duo wrote: “We are hoping that Tom will recover in time to play the scheduled Castle Howard show in York on Sunday and will update with progress as soon as possible via our socials”.The Chemical Brothers’ Glastonbury set was first jeopardised on Wednesday (June 22) after they announced that they’ve had to postpone their show in Ireland on June 23 due to members of the band and crew testing positive for COVID.Yesterday, the duo wrote on social media about the immediate future: “We are monitoring the situation and will make a decision as soon as possible regarding remaining shows later this week.

Glastonbury Festival is already well underway, with thousands of festival-goers having headed down to Worthy Farm in Somerset on 22 and 23 June. The iconic festival has finally returned after three years with a line-up jam-packed with incredible musicians, including the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Diana Ross.