Sir Rod Stewart has been the first performer revealed for Glastonbury 2025, taking the iconic Sunday afternoon legend slot in a historic move.
The 79-year-old star is ‘proud’ to return to perform on the Pyramid Stage, 22 years after he headlined the festival.
But has revealed to fans while on on talkSPORT Breakfast that the gig is actually going to cost him a rather large sum.
‘It’s going to cost me a fortune to do it – $300,000,’ the Maggie May singer told Alan Brazil.
‘I’ve got to bring all my band back from America, of course, Glastonbury don’t pay for that.’
He then added that the cost didn’t bother him as the slot was an ‘honour’: ‘But I don’t care if it cost me $1million, I would have done it. This is a great honour. It really is the greatest honour.’
Posting on social media, following the announcement, Sir Rod said: ‘After all these years, I’m proud and ready and more than able to take the stage again to pleasure and titillate my friends at Glastonbury in June. I’ll see you there!’
While headliners often return to the stage numerous times (looking at you Coldplay), this is the first time a former headliner will return in the Legends slot.
Officially launching in 1998 with Tony Bennett’s performance — although there were legends before this — the coveted spot is considered as prestigious as a headline slot.
Glastonbury announced on social media: ‘We’re excited to announce that Sir @RodStewart will play the Sunday teatime legend slot at Glastonbury 2025.’
Despite being the first act to be confirmed for next year’s Worthy Farm extravaganza, there was not a single rumour floating around about the Maggie May singer’s appearance.
Glastonbury festival organiser Emily Eavis said in a post on Instagram: ‘Bringing Sir Rod Stewart back for the Sunday afternoon slot on the Pyramid stage is everything we could wish for.
‘What a way to bow out with the final legend slot before we take a fallow year. We cannot wait!.’
Commenters called the news ‘fantastic’ as on X, Seb Bailey wrote: ‘Well excited about this!!’
‘At last! How fantastic is this news? Is @rodstewart the last, best British singer of our generation? I love him. The hair, the cars & he’s bendy at almost eighty ….’ said Roberto Perrone.
Lou added: ‘Fantastic legend slot choice. Such a brilliant back catalogue!‘
At 80, Sir Rod will be one of the oldest solo Glastonbury performers, a title he shares with Burt Barach who played the festival at age 87.
Sir Paul McCartney is the oldest-ever headliner after closing the festival in 2022 at the age of 80.
The I Don’t Want to Talk About It hitmaker previously headlined the festival in 2002 alongside Coldplay and the Stereophonics.
Sir Rod will be taking up the legend slot mantle from Shania Twain who drew a huge crowd to the Pyramid Stage last year.
Other artists to have performed in the Sunday afternoon Pyramid Stage set over the years include Yusuf/Cat Stevens, Diana Ross, Kylie Minogue, ELO, Lionel Richie, Dolly Parton, Paul Simon, Tom Jones and Dame Shirley Bassey.
The biggest tracks from his six-decade career include Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?, You’re In My Heart, Hot Legs, and Tonight’s The Night.
Sir Rod is a member of the US Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and was knighted in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
After Sir Rod, there are still three headliners to be announced who will take to the Pyramid Stage on Friday June 27, Saturday June 28, and Sunday June 29.
Usually, headliners aren’t announced until closer to the June festival, and in recent years we haven’t had a whiff of an official confirmation until March, so this reveal is rather surprising.
Favourites to headline this year are the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles, Sam Fender, The 1975, Eminem, and Fred Again.
Sir Rod announced just last week that he would be ending his major world tours, writing: ‘This will be the end of large-scale world tours for me, but I have no desire to retire.
‘I love what I do, and I do what I love. I’m fit, have a full head of hair, and can run 100 meters in 18 seconds at the jolly age of 79.’
Sir Rod went on: ‘I’d like to move onto a Great American Songbook, Swing Fever tour the year after next – smaller venues and more intimacy.’
He then teased: ‘But then again, I may not…’, signing off as ‘The Ambiguous Sir Rod Stewart.’
This came after Sir Rod opened up about how he views dying and admitted his ‘days are numbered’, as he approaches turning 80 in January.
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‘I’m aware my days are numbered but I’ve got no fear,’ he said earlier this year, adding that he reckons he’s got ‘probably another 15’ years that he can do ‘easy’.
‘We have all got to pass on at some point, so we are all in the same basket. I am going to be enjoying myself for these last few years as much as I can. I say few — probably another 15. I can do that easy mate, easy,’ he added in an interview with The Sun.
In August, he also had to postpone several shows and his 200th residency celebration show in Las Vegas after contracting Covid-19 and a bacterial infection strep throat.
Since then, however, Sir Rod has returned to the stage and announced tickets for his 2025 One Last Time Tour.
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