The 20-year-old pop star put on an impassioned display in her record-breaking Glastonbury headline set in 2022, in which she criticised the US Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
Billie Eilish made history last year by becoming the youngest-ever headliner at Glastonbury, as she gave a riotous performance on the Pyramid Stage on the Friday night.
Opening with ‘Bury a Friend’, the young singer went on to use her set to criticise the controversial ruling by the US Supreme Court to overturn the 50-year-old Roe vs. Wade, which previously guaranteed nationwide abortion rights for women.
Her direct statement on the matter was brief, albeit punchy, as she told the crowd: “Today is a really, really dark day for women in the US. I’m just going to say that because I can’t bear to think about it any longer.”
Accompanied by her brother, FINNEAS, however, Eilish subsequently dedicated her song ‘Your Power’ to the situation – a song about older men who abuse their power.
Eilish, who took the title of youngest performer from the late David Bowie (he was 24 when he headlined in 1971), wasn’t the only performer at Worthy Farm to come out and criticise the decision.
At the John Peel Stage earlier in the day, Los Angeles singer Phoebe Bridgers had asked the crowd to join her in shouting “f**k the Supreme Court”, before personally criticising the “irrelevant old motherf***ers”.
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Whilst the controversial news was certainly mentioned, it didn’t take the shine away from the majority of performances, of which there were plenty on the first full day of stage performances for Glastonbury’s 50th anniversary last year.
Wolf Alice delivered an outstanding set, having not previously been sure of whether they would be able to perform at all. The BRIT Award-winners were stranded in LA on Wednesday after their flight was cancelled; whilst their half-joking appeal for a private jet wasn’t successful, they were able to chart a flight from Seattle.
Before them on the main Pyramid Stage, Crowded House provided peak golden-oldie moments with their classics such as ‘Weather With You’; they equally welcomed something much younger, though, by introducing Buddy onstage, the grandson of frontman Neil Finn and son of guitarist Liam Finn.
Given its eclectic range of musical offerings, Glastonbury is recognised for its cross-generational appeal, and this was certainly a moment that embodied that as Buddy danced and joined in song onstage.
Later in the evening, Bristol punk band IDLES also delivered a typically impassioned performance at the Other Stage.
Kalush Orchestra performing at Glastonbury.
Given that numbers do the talking, however, special mention must go to the now Grammy Award-winning Isle of Wight duo Wet Leg and 90s RnB group TLC. Both acts drew such large crowds that access to the Park Stage (for Wet Leg) and West Holts Stage (TLC) had to be temporarily cut off.
Later in the evening, too, Ukraine’s 2022 Eurovision winners Kalush Orchestra played a late-night set in the Shangri-La area.
Their presence was another reminder at last year’s event of the ongoing war in Ukraine; earlier in the day, President Volodymyr Zelensky gave a pre-recorded speech before festival openers The Libertines on The Other Stage, who went on to demand that festival goers “spread the truth” about the ongoing invasion.
