Elton John wowed the crowd with an incredible Glastonbury headline show.
The “Rocket Man” singer brought Glastonbury 2023 to a climactic end with his headline performance on Sunday (25 June).
He was the last of three headliners to play the Pyramid Stage this weekend at Worthy Farm, Somerset, following on from Guns N’ Roses and Arctic Monkeys who performed on Saturday and Friday (25 and 24 June) respectively.
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The career-spanning set included hits such as 1970’s “Your Song” and 1973’s “Bennie and the Jets”.
Taking the stage in a gold suit and red-tinted sunglasses, John said that he never thought he would ever play Glastonbury. The 76-year-old also suggested that this “may” be his last ever show in the UK.
Across his two-hour performance, John welcomed four guest stars: Brandon Flowers of The Killers, Jacob Lusk of Gabriels, Rina Sawayama, and Steven Sanchez.
Rumours that Paul McCartney and Britney Spear would join John on stage did not come to fruition. The Beatles legend was, however, spotted in the crowd enjoying himself.
Elton John brings out Rina Sawayama for ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’
(Leon Neal/Getty)
See below for the songs that John played during the set:
- “Pinball Wizard”
- “The B**** is Back”
- “Bennie and the Jets”
- “Daniel”
- “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”
- “I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues”
- “Philadelphia Freedom”
- “Are You Ready for Love” – performed with Jacob Lusk and the London Community Choir
- “Sad Songs (Say So Much)”
- “Someone Saved My Life Tonight”
- “Until I Found You” – performed with Stephen Sanchez
- “Your Song”
- “Candle in the Wind”
- “Tiny Dancer” – performed with Brandon Flowers
- “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” – performed with Rina Sawayama
- “Crocodile Rock”
- “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”
- “I’m Still Standing”
- “Cold Heart / Sacrifice” – performed without Dua Lipa
- “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me”
- “Rocket Man”
Elsewhere during the performance, John paid a touching tribute to his late friend, the musician George Michael who would have turned 60 on Sunday (25 June). The singer dedicated his performance of 1974’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” to Michael.
Crowd figures are not yet available for John’s headline show, but viewers at home were stunned by the size of the audience shown on the BBC broadcast.
Viewers speculated that the number of people who gathered to see John might be even larger than those who watched McCartney’s headline set last year.
In 2022, the Beatles legend attracted over 100,000 people to his show, placing him alongside one of the biggest Pyramid Stage attendances together with the Rolling Stones in 2013.
Approximately 200,000 people attend Glastonbury every year.