Glastonbury: Rick Astley and Queens of the Stone Age added to line-up

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Rick Astley
Image caption,

Rick Astley plays the Pyramid Stage at midday on Saturday

Queens Of The Stone Age and Rick Astley are among the artists who've been added to this year's Glastonbury festival, as organisers unveil the final line-up.

Queens Of The Stone Age top the bill on The Other Stage on Sunday 26 June, going up against Sir Elton John, who'll be playing the last UK show of his farewell tour on the Pyramid Stage.

Other names added to the bill include Tom Grennan and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

Arctic Monkeys and Guns N' Roses join Elton John as headliners.

Mysteriously, an unknown band called The ChurnUps are set to play the Pyramid Stage on Friday evening.

The group does not exist on streaming services, so rumours have begun circulating that it is in fact a surprise guest - with possible candidates including Blur and Pulp.

Folk singer-songwriter Yusuf, also known as Cat Stevens, will play the coveted Sunday afternoon "legend slot".

The star, whose hits include Wild World and Father and Son, follows in the footsteps of Diana Ross, Kylie Minogue and Bee Gee Barry Gibb.

The mid-afternoon set traditionally draws one of the festival's biggest audiences.

This year, new wave pop band Blondie will take to the Pyramid Stage immediately after Stevens - effectively creating a "double legend" slot.

Image caption,

Lana Del Rey graduates from an afternoon slot on the Pyramid Stage in 2014 to a headliner on the Other Stage this year

Other highlights of the line-up include pop star Lizzo, Eurovision winners Måneskin, BBC Sound of 2023 winners Flo and experimental pop alchemists Sparks.

Rick Astley plays the Pyramid Stage at midday on Saturday; with Sophie Ellis-Bextor bringing some of her kitchen disco vibes to the same timeslot the following day.

Rap provocateur Lil Nas X will warm the crowd up for Sir Elton on Sunday night, while Lana Del Rey will headline the Other Stage on Saturday.

The smaller Avalon stage has one of the most eclectic line-ups, playing host to The Damned, Will Young, former Scissor Sister star Jake Shears, riotous indie act Lottery Winners and Spice Girl Melanie C (whose DJ set was one of the highlights of Glastonbury 2022).

The John Peel Stage, meanwhile, has quietly been renamed "Woodsies" - with the whole area being revamped to include treetop aerial walkways and a more relaxed, natural feel.

The stage will open on Friday morning with female Ukraine rockers The Sixsters, and close on Sunday night with a headline set from eclectic French pop-rock heroes Phoenix.

In between, the stage will host performances from Christine and the Queens, Rina Sawayama, Caroline Polachek and hotly-tipped newcomers The Last Dinner Party.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Elton John is nearing the end of his mammoth Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour

But Sir Elton is likely to be this year's biggest attraction, as he draws the curtain on six decades of live performance.

"It's a massive, massive coup for us to be able to get him here for the end of his tour," festival organiser Emily Eavis told the BBC in March.

"And he's really up for it. He's been on the phone with loads of brilliant ideas and he's just fired up about it."

The full line-up and stage times are available on the BBC Glastonbury site, as well as the official Glastonbury homepage.

The publication will, for many fans, trigger the annual headache of planning a route around the festival in the hope of catching their favourite bands. There are just under 3,000 acts listed across 82 stages in the official programme.

Inevitably, there will be some major clashes. Saturday night looks particularly tricky this year, with Lana Del Rey, Guns N' Roses, Fatboy Slim, Loyle Carner and Christine and the Queens all scheduled against each other.

Gates for the festival open at 08:00 BST on Wednesday 23 June - but tickets have already sold out.

For those who can't go, the BBC will provide more than 100 hours of coverage across TV and radio, including sets from all three main stage headliners.

For the first time, performances on the Pyramid Stage will also be streamed live in British Sign Language on BBC iPlayer.

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