Glastonbury 2025’s Biggest Moments: Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde, Kneecap

This past weekend, the music-loving hordes returned to Worthy Farm, and once again the Glastonbury Festival did not disappoint. The four-day event featured a plethora of great performances, politically charged controversies, and a couple of wild surprises. Here’s our run down of the eight biggest moments of Glastonbury 2025.

Lewis Capaldi’s Emotional Return

Back in 2023, Scottish crooner Lewis Capaldi was on stage a Glastonbury, trying to perform while visibly battling twitches caused by Tourette’s syndrome. Capaldi got some help from fans as he finished his set, after which he announced a break from touring so that he could focus on his mental and physical well-being. Two years later, Capaldi was back on the Pyramid Stage at Glasto to “finish what I couldn’t finish,” as he put it. During the short set, he performed hits like “Before You Go,” “Hold Me While You Wait,” and “Someone You Loved,” while also debuting his new comeback track, “Survive.” 

“I’m not going to say much up here today, because if I do, I’ll probably start crying,” Capaldi told the crowd. “It’s just amazing to be here with you all, and I can’t thank you enough for coming out and coming to see me. Second time’s the charm on this one.”

Olivia Rodrigo Has the Cure

Earlier this month at Governors Ball in New York City, Olivia Rodrigo brought out David Byrne for a surprise performance of the Talking Heads classic, “Burning Down the House.” A few weeks later, she tapped another Eighties legend, Robert Smith of the Cure, to make a guest appearance during her headlining set at Glastonbury Sunday night. Rodrigo introduced Smith by calling him “perhaps the best songwriter to come out of England,” as well as a “Glastonbury legend and a personal hero of mine.” The pair went on to perform two Cure classics, 1992’s “Friday I’m in Love” and 1987’s “Just Like Heaven.” 

Lorde Almighty

On Friday, Lorde celebrated the release of her new album Virgin by performing the LP live for the first time at a surprise, early-morning set. The musician took the stage at 11:30 a.m. local time, having only announced the set the night before. Nevertheless, a huge crowd packed in to see Lorde, with the BBC even reporting that so many people showed up, festival organizers had to close access to the Woodsies field. Along with performing all of Virgin, Lorde capped off her set with two longtime favorites, “Ribs” and “Green Light.” 

“This may be a one-of-one, you know?” Lorde told fans. “This record took me a lot. I didn’t know if I’d make another record, to be honest, but I’m back here completely free. And I’m so grateful to you for waiting.”

Kneecap Won’t Back Down

After months of discussion and controversy over whether Kneecap’s statements in support of Palestine and calls for an end to Israel’s war in Gaza constitute as antisemitism, the Belfast rap trio finally took the stage Saturday afternoon for one of Glastonbury’s most anticipated sets. In between performing a set packed with old favorite sand highlights from their debut album, Fine Art, Kneecap hit out at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who said it would not be “appropriate” for the band to perform, and lambasted the “trumped-up terrorism charge” against Mo Chara (he’s accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag at a show last year). The trio also thanked the Glastonbury organizers for not bowing to pressure and keeping them on the lineup, and led the crowd in a chant of, “Free, free Palestine.” 

Skepta Saves the Day

When the Deftones were forced to cancel their Saturday afternoon set due to an illness in the band, Glastonbury organizers were left scrambling to find a replacement. Luckily, grime legend Skepta was able to make it to Worthy Farm in time and deliver a short, but thrilling set. Because of the time crunch, Skepta obviously wasn’t able to pull together all the bells and whistles one might expect from a primetime slot on Glasto’s second biggest stage. But Skepta also showed why he’s the kind of artist who doesn’t need all those bells and whistles: “Let’s go!!! No crew, no production but am ready to shut Glastonbury down,” he said before doing just that with a 30-minute set of hits like “Cops & Robbers,” “That’s Not Me,” and “Redrum,” as well as his new track with Fred Again, “Victory Lap.”

Charli XCX’s ‘Boomer Vibe’ Clapback

Charli XCX’s headlining set on the Other stage Saturday was a characteristic Brat bonanza, but not everyone feeling it. Those who watched the livestream set fired off some cranky tweets about her performance, which Charli decided to respond herself the next morning. “Like the idea that singing with deliberate autotune makes you a fraud or that not having a traditional band suddenly means you must not be a ‘real artist’ is like, the most boring take ever,” she wrote, before adding, “really enjoying these boomer vibe comments on my glastonbury performance. It’s super fascinating to me.” Such assurance and can’t-be-assed nonchalance is perhaps no better proof of concept for her other Glastonbury proclamation: That Brat Summer is a “forever thing.” 

Bob Vylan’s Challenging Chants

While much of the pre-festival discussion centered around Kneecap, it was London alt-rap duo Bob Vylan who garnered the biggest controversy. During the group’s set, rapper Bobby Vylan led the crowd in chants of “Free, free Palestine,” as well as “Death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces].” The latter chant garnered the fiercest backlash, with Glastonbury boss Emily Eavis saying festival organizers were “appalled,” and that the chants “very much crossed a line.” Prime Minister Starmer said, “There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech.” The U.S. State Department even decided to step in and revoke the U.S. visas for the duo ahead of their fall tour.

Vylan, for his part, issued a statement of his own, that read in part, “I said what I said.”

(It’s worth noting that Bob Vylan and Kneecap were far from the only artists to speak out in support of Palestine at the festival. Others include Amyl and the Sniffers, Nilufer Yanya, Jade Thirlwall, and Elijah Hewson, lead singer of Inhaler and son of U2’s Bono.)

Kate Nash Lashes Out

Singer-songwriter and actress Kate Nash delivered Glastonbury’s other big political salvo over the weekend, with particularly sharp words for Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling. Nash recently dropped the anti-transphobia single “GERM,” and in calling out Rowling, she said, “The loudest feminist voice in the U.K. is currently transphobic… Dismantling systems of oppression lies at the very core of feminism, so transphobia is not fucking feminist. And just because you’re a fucking millionaire and a fucking bully with an army of trolls on the fucking internet, I don’t give a fuck mate.” 

Nash also had some sharp words for Prime Minister Starmer and Rod Stewart, who recently sparked controversy by voicing his support for the far-right Reform U.K. party and its leader Nigel Farage. Nash dedicated her song “Dickhead” to Stewart, Starmer, Rowling, and Farage. 

From Rolling Stone US.