Rod Stewart to play festival’s legends slot

Rock star Rod Stewart has been confirmed to play Glastonbury’s legends slot in 2025, 23 years after his last appearance at the festival.

One of the best-selling artists of all time, he will follow in the footsteps of Dolly Parton, Barry Gibb, Shania Twain and Kylie Minogue by playing the coveted Sunday teatime slot.

The news comes shortly after the star announced his intention to stop playing “large-scale world tours” at the end of 2025.

The 79-year-old said he was “proud, ready and more than able to pleasure and titillate my friends at Glastonbury” next June.

The Sunday afternoon slot always draws one of the biggest crowds of the festival, and Sir Rod will become the first person to have headlined the event and been given legends billing.

Stewart previously headlined the festival in 2002, alongside Coldplay and Stereophonics.

That year, organisers were testing a five-mile “superfence” to keep out gatecrashers, which was a success.

“You’ve had some wonderful press all over the country because everything’s been so well-behaved and orderly,” the Scottish singer told the audience during his Sunday night set.

“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing – but at least we know Glastonbury’s going to go on for the next 30 years.”

At first, “the crowd was wary” of the musician, who “looked to be taking himself too seriously”, said the BBC’s Ian Youngs in a review of the show.

“But waverers were won over by the double whammy of Maggie May and Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? half an hour into his set, when the crowd realised that he really was cheesy enough to be admitted to the Glastonbury Hall of Fame.”

Playing to the audience, Stewart preened and posed his way through the hits, with an array of costume changes that ended with a white ruffled shirt, unbuttoned almost to the navel.

He ended the night with Sailing, inspiring a mass singalong as fireworks exploded over the Pyramid Stage.

Stewart is the first act to be confirmed for Glastonbury 2025.

The event will take place on Worthy Farm in Somerset from 25 to 29 June, with rumoured headliners including Sam Fender, Olivia Rodrigo, Stevie Wonder, Eminem and Charli XCX.

This year’s event saw Dua Lipa and SZA make their debuts at the top of the bill, with Coldplay playing a record-breaking sixth headline show.

Tickets, which cost £373.50 plus a £5 booking fee, have already sold out. The last time Stewart played, the price was set at £97 – making it the last time the festival cost less than £100.

A limited number of resale tickets for next year’s event will go on sale in the New Year.