This will be the first time ever Sir Elton plays the Worthy Farm-held event
Elton John is the first act to be officially confirmed for playing at Glastonbury Festival 2023.
Breaking the news via its official social channels this morning (Friday, 2nd December) at 7:59 am, Glastonbury Festival wrote: “We are incredibly excited to announce that the one and only Elton John will headline the Pyramid Stage on Sunday night at Glastonbury 2023, for what will be the final UK show of his last ever tour.”
The announcement came a day after the official BBC Glasto Twitter account shared somewhat of an out-of-the-ordinary post, saying they’ve “caught a stunning shot of Glastonbury on [their] webcam”, while inviting fans to visit the website and view the ‘best shots’ for themselves.
Taking a closer look at the first shot on the site (seen below), revealed what appeared to look like a rocket ship flying over the iconic Pyramid Stage – obviously alluding to Elton John’s famous ‘Rocket Man’ song.
Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis said: “It gives me enormous pleasure to let you know that the one and only Elton John will be making his first ever Glastonbury appearance, headlining the Pyramid Stage on the Sunday night next year.”
“This will be the final UK show of Elton’s last ever tour, so we will be closing the Festival and marking this huge moment in both of our histories with the mother of all send offs. We are so very happy to finally bring the Rocket Man to Worthy Farm!”, she added.
In addition to the BBC Glasto Twitter post, it appears that some clues were left scattered across the Twittersphere prior to the announcement when at least two accounts reported seeing a flashing in the sky the night before – with Emily Eavis and the official Glastonbury Festival Twitter accounts both ‘liking’ those tweets.
— Frome Photos (@FromePhotos) December 1, 2022
This came after strong rumours were already awash, following Sir Elton posting a photograph of himself on social media the day prior, writing on his Instagram Story: “One final date to announce… the Rocket Man is incoming.”
The Rocket Man singer is currently embarking on his final ever ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour, which he will bring back to the UK next spring.
In a statement announcing the Glastonbury show, Sir Elton said: “As the end of my Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour comes into view, there is no more fitting way to say goodbye to my British fans. They have been beyond brilliant, and have supported me through all the highs and lows of my career.
“Every week I speak to new artists on my radio show and Glastonbury is often cited as a pivotal moment in launching their careers – the festival’s genuine, enthusiastic support for the best emerging talent is something I’ve long admired.
“I’ve been talking to Emily Eavis about it over the last few weeks and I can’t wait to embrace the spirit of the greatest festival in the world. It’s going to be incredibly emotional.”
Rumours were re-ignited earlier in the year after the singer was originally set to play in Glasgow on the 17th and 18th of June, before heading to Paris on Glasto-weekend to play three dates – the first of which was due to fall on the 25th of June, also known as the Sunday of Glastonbury 2023.
However, these dates were then rescheduled, with Sir Elton’s official website informing fans that the Paris dates will instead take place on the 21st, 27th, and 28th of June 2023 – and by doing so created a perfectly shaped Glasto gap in his schedule, leaving him free throughout the Glastonbury Festival weekend, which runs from 21rd to 25th June.
Despite his popularity, Sir Elton has never performed at Glastonbury and revealed back in 2015 that he had never been asked to play at the Festival.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, when posed the question of whether he would play at the Festival, John said: “I’ve never been asked… so I can’t answer that question until they ask me.”
After the September 2018 kickoff, the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which is intended to be John’s final journey around the world, was temporarily postponed due to the worldwide pandemic following his show in Sydney, Australia on 7th March 2020.
The nearly two-year break in between shows was also due to the 75-year-old star having surgery on his injured hip following a fall.
The pain continued to worsen despite intensive physiotherapy and specialist treatment, making it harder for him to move around, and ultimately prompting him to make the decision of pushing the tour back to 2022.
The tour ultimately resumed with a show at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on 19th January and made its way around parts of the U.S. until 28th April in Miami.
Being one of the very few icons who have yet to make an appearance at Worthy Farm, it’s hard to ignore the fact that seeing out his half-a-century career at Glastonbury Festival would certainly be fitting.
As of this moment in time, except for Elton John, no other acts have been officially confirmed for Glastonbury 2023 – for all that, as with every Glastonbury-year, the speculation about who might play the legendary festival is always very high, and with the 2023 event fast approaching, the Glasto Rumour Mill is already spinning in full force.
Although the first line-up poster doesn’t usually get revealed until the beginning of March, followed by the full line-up announcement sometime at the end of May – there are many artists who ‘self-confirm’ prior to the official announcements by divulging the news via interviews, social media or website listings to accompany the ever-growing rumours.
Along with The Weeknd, Kraftwerk and Jack Johnson, some of the recent names rumoured for next year’s event include The 1975 – who are once again mentioned in the Glastonbury context after speculation started permeating the web when the Cheshire band confirmed new tour dates – leaving them wide open over the 2023 Glastonbury weekend.
Rihanna‘s name has also recently been tossed about after the Barbados-born singer was reportedly approached by the Festival about being the closing act at the event next year.
Taylor Swift, however, has effectively almost ruled herself out of the run for 2023 – after announcing her long-rumoured return to the road, scheduled to hit U.S. stadiums beginning in March 2023 and running into August.
Pulp also revealed dates of their upcoming reunion tour scheduled for next summer, leaving plenty of room for a Glastonbury performance.
Arctic Monkeys are also strongly rumoured for 2023, after the band reportedly signed on “the dotted line” for a deal to headline the Festival next summer.
Guns N’ Roses entered the rumour mill after Festival organiser Emily Eavis said in an interview last year that the hard rockers need to play the Worthy Farm event at some point.
And finally, Eminem – which is yet another name to have never stepped foot at Worthy Farm – is said to be in “advanced talks” to headline the iconic Pyramid Stage at the Festival next year.
It is worth noting though that Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis did however say earlier this year that all three headliners for the 2023 Festival have already been booked.
Therefore, these rumours are to be taken for what they are, as any insider claiming to know anything about anything, either have access to unreleased information or is outright mistaken.
You can now follow and stay up to date with all the latest artists that have been officially confirmed, self-confirmed or rumoured for Glastonbury 2023 via our constantly updated line-up & rumours list.
With both the main ticket sales, as well as the local & Sunday ticket sale now out of the way, the next option to bag tickets to Glastonbury 2023 will be when the resale of any unpaid and/or cancelled tickets takes place in the Spring of 2023 (around April time).
As part of Glastonbury’s ongoing efforts against ticket touting, anyone who would like to attend next year’s Festival will need to have registered in advance.
That said, registration for Glastonbury 2023 closed at 5pm GMT on Monday, 31st October, and as of this moment in time, there is no opportunity to submit/re-submit a registration until after the November ticket sales – when registration will open once again on Monday 21st November.
As in previous years, registration remains free of charge and only takes a few minutes at glastonburyregistration.co.uk.
Those who have already registered in the past can also check their existing registration here.
In addition to the upcoming ticket resales, some other opportunities for getting to Glastonbury include entering competitions, working at the Festival and volunteering – once those options make themselves available.
To learn more about registration, the sale process and how you can maximise your chances of getting Glastonbury 2023 tickets, click here.
Don’t be fooled
Glastonbury Festival would very much like fans to be aware that there are people out there who will try and sell fake Glastonbury tickets to unsuspecting, willing and innocent potential purchasers.
Although Glasto-veterans who have been going to the Festival for quite some time may recognise these scams for what they are, newcomers might not.
Therefore, please remember that tickets are only sold on one site, which is: glastonbury.seetickets.com.
