Kendrick Lamar to close out Glastonbury after Sir Paul McCartney’s explosive set

Kendrick Lamar is set to close out Glastonbury as the festival’s final headliner the day after Sir Paul McCartney delivered an explosive history-making set.

The US rapper will be the last performer to take to the Pyramid Stage on Sunday, concluding the festivities at Worthy Farm in Somerset.

Soul singer Diana Ross is also on the bill for the final day as she fills the Sunday teatime legends slot.

Lamar’s upcoming show on the main stage will mark his Glastonbury debut.

He is expected to play a range of hit tracks including songs from his recently released fifth studio album Mr Morale & The Big Steppers.

It was announced in 2020 that the Grammy-winning singer would headline Glastonbury’s 50th anniversary edition but the festival has faced two years of delays due to the pandemic.

The Pyramid Stage will host an array of talent before Lamar including Lorde, Elbow, Herbie Hancock, DakhaBrakha and Black Dyke Band.

There will also be musical stars across the festival’s multiple stages with the Pet Shop Boys and Years & Years performing on the Other Stage.

While electronic duo Bicep will headline the West Holts Stage, Charli XCX will close the John Peel Stage and Imelda May and McFly will both play the Avalon Stage.

On Saturday evening, Sir Paul delivered a Glastonbury headline set for the history books which included surprise appearances from Bruce Springsteen and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl.

As he took to the Pyramid Stage, the former Beatle became the festival’s oldest solo headliner, a week after he celebrated his 80th birthday.

To mark the momentous occasion, Sir Paul treated the masses in the crowd to a selection of his own songs as well as beloved tracks by The Beatles and from his later group Wings.

During his more than two hour set, he played a range of classics songs including Hey Jude, Blackbird, Live And Let Die, Ob-La-Di, Ob‐La‐Da and Get Back.

The electrifying show was further amplified as he introduced Grohl to the stage to sing I Saw Her Standing There and Band On The Run.

It was his first public performance since the death of his Foo Fighters bandmate, drummer Taylor Hawkins.

Following Grohl, Sir Paul announced he had another surprise all the way from the east coast of America as Springsteen took to the stage to play Glory Days and I Wanna Be Your Man with him.

Sir Paul also remembered his nearest and dearest during the headline set including dedicating a piano-led version of My Valentine to his wife Nancy, Something to his Beatles’ bandmate George Harrison and Here Today to John Lennon.

As part of the encore, through special technology which could isolate Lennon’s vocals from old recordings, Sir Paul was able to duet The Beatles’ track I’ve Got A Feeling alongside his former bandmate on the Pyramid Stage.

To end the historic set he sang The Beatles’ song The End to a cheering crowd with Springsteen and Grohl also returning to provide guitar solos.

Despite the majority of the Glastonbury headline performances being shown live on the BBC iPlayer, Sir Paul was not aired on the broadcaster’s channels until an hour into his set.

In a statement, the BBC said: “This year we are delighted to bring audiences our most extensive coverage of Glastonbury to date.

“Paul McCartney’s much anticipated set was broadcast on BBC One at 10.30pm as well as on Radio 2 and will be available on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds.

“Due to the complexity of broadcasting an event of this scale and the volume of performances we cover, there is sometimes variation between performances taking place and their transmission.”

Earlier on Saturday, the Pyramid Stage hosted a speech by Greta Thunberg where she called on society to take on its “historic responsibility to set things right” with the global climate crisis.

Ms Thunberg’s speech was followed by a set by pop rock band Haim, with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds taking to the Pyramid Stage after them.

The Pyramid Stage also hosted musical stars Haim, AJ Tracey, Easy Life, Joy Crookes and Les Amazones d’Afrique on Saturday.

US pop star Olivia Rodrigo and rapper Megan Thee Stallion both played on the Other Stage, while Mercury-winner Celeste played the West Holts Stage.

Eilish gave an electrifying headline performance on the Pyramid Stage on Friday to end the first day of performances at Glastonbury.

Her appearance was another landmark moment for the festival as she became Glastonbury’s youngest ever solo headliner.