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Glastonbury Festival unveils 2022 headliners 

The iconic Glastonbury Festival has today (Friday) revealed its 2022 headliners ahead of its first event since 2019.

Friday will be headlined by US singer and youngest ever headliner Billie Eilish, while Sir Paul McCartney will take the Saturday slot. US rapper Kendrick Lamar will close the show on Sunday night.

Former Beatles star McCartney was due to headline the 2020 show which was cancelled due to the pandemic. He last played at the Somerset festival in 2004 and will be 80-years-old when he takes to the stage, making him the oldest-ever headliner.

Eilish will also be the first female headliner at the festival since 2016. Taylor Swift was set to play the Pyramid stage in 2020 before the event’s cancellation, however.

Glastonbury organisers have tried over the years to bring more balance to the line-up, with 2022’s schedule featuring 47 female artists or female-fronted bands out of 89 acts.

Other acts announced include Little Simz, Arlo Parks, Burna Boy, as well as Pet Shop Boys and Elbow.

The legends slot on Sunday afternoon at Worthy Farm will be filled by Diana Ross, who was already confirmed for the 2022 event.

Organiser Emily Eavis tweeted: “We are very happy to bring you the first shortlist of artists from the main stages for Glastonbury Festival 2022 – and if you can believe it there’s even more to come!”

Eavis also told the BBC that proceeds from the event would go towards the Red Cross Ukraine appeal, on top of Glastonbury’s regular charities WaterAid, Oxfam and Greenpeace.

The festival has already sold out for this year, with most tickets rolled over from the cancelled 2020 event.

Last year’s festival was also cancelled due to COVID-19, but was replaced by a live-stream concert held on Worthy Farm. Tickets originally cost £20 ($27/€24) for the virtual gig, however it was eventually opened up to all for free after facing multiple technical difficulties.

More acts will be announced over the coming weeks, with the final full line-up revealed in May.

Image: James Genchi on Unsplash