Who has played the Glastonbury legends slot over the years?

30 June 2024, 08:00

It's one of the most prestigious sets you can play at the festival - apart from headlining, of course. Who's been a Glastonbury Sunday Legend?

The Glastonbury Sunday Legend is one of the most prestigious slots in the festival calendar. Take one veteran performer, stick them on the Pyramid Stage late on Sunday afternoon and watch them unleash their greatest hits.

Shania Twain has now been confirmed for the slot at Glastonbury 2024, bringing some of her best known hits, including You're Still The One, Man! I Feel Life A Woman! and That Don't Impress Me Much to the Pyramid Stage.

When Kylie Minogue took to the stage at the 2019 festival, it became the most-watched moment of that year's event. The term "Sunday Legend" is a relatively recent innovation - for a number of years, legends would rub shoulders with newer artists on the Pyramid Stage bill and it was all just part of the mix.

In 1994, Johnny Cash made a late afternoon appearance, while the following year former Led Zeppelin men Jimmy Page and Robert Plant took to the Pyramid Stage. 1997 saw Van Morrison perform on the main stage, but he'd been doing the same sort of slot for years.

The "Sunday Legends" slot became a "thing" when Tony Bennett took to the main stage after Scouse Britpoppers Space and before alt.rock heroes Sonic Youth. The veteran crooner brought some lounge lizard class to one of the muddier festivals and set the template for every other act that has come along since.

Here are the Glastonbury Sunday Legends for far...

Who has played the Legends slot at Glastonbury?

1. 2024 - Shania Twain

   The Country icon has been confirmed to play the coveted slot in 2024 and has even claimed she'd like to ride a horse to the Pyramid Stage for her set!

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2. 2023 - Yusef/Cat Stevens

   The British singer-songwriter played a gentle, yet quietly impressive collection of his songs, including Wide World, Father And Son and Morning Has Broken.

   

   Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Wild World (Glastonbury 2023)

3. 2022 - Diana Ross

   Ms Ross played a fantastic set which ranged from her days with The Supremes (You Can't Hurry Love, Stop In The Name Of Love), her solo Motown years (I'm Still Waiting) and her late 70s imperial disco period (I'm Coming Out, Upside Down).

   

   DIANA ROSS - UPSIDE DOWN - PYRAMID STAGE - GLASTONBURY - 26.06.22

4. 2019 - Kylie Minogue

   The Australian singer was due to headline Sunday night in 2005, but a battle with breast cancer made her postpone the appearance - which turned out the be a delay of 14 years. She notched up the most-watched set of Glastonbury that year, with special guests Chris Martin and Nick Cave joining her on the Pyramid Stage.

   

   Kylie Minogue - Spinning Around (Glastonbury 2019)

5. 2017 - Barry Gibb

   The sole surviving member of The Bee Gees had unexpectedly shown up the year before as a special guest to Coldplay, but delivered a barrage of classics from his back catalogue. Any set that starts with Jive Talkin' and ends with Tragedy is not to be argued with.

   

6. 2016 - Jeff Lynne's ELO

   The Electric Light Orchestra leader was visibly moved by the response to his set on the Pyramid Stage, which reminded everyone just how many hits the band had, climaxing with the evergreen Mr Blue Sky.

   

7. 2015 - Lionel Richie

   Both solo hits and tracks recorded with The Commodores delighted the audience when Lionel hit the stage... the run consisting of Dancing On The Ceiling into Hello and then into All Night Long (All Night) was beautiful, and was unexpectedly followed by We Are The World!

   

8. 2014 - Dolly Parton

   There's more to Dolly than 9 To 5 as the country superstar proved - how about Jolene, Islands In The Stream and Here You Come Again? Nice. Then there was Dolly's cover of Lay Your Hands On Me by Bon Jovi (complete with guest appearance by Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora), followed by the killer punch of her definitive take on her own song, I Will Always Love You. Amazing.

   

   Dolly Parton performs Jolene at Glastonbury - BBC

9. 2013 - Kenny Rogers

   It's a shame both Kenny and Dolly Parton weren't at the same Glasto, otherwise the pair could have duetted on Islands In The Stream, but you can't have everything. Instead, the country legend delivered some of his finest moments, including the rueful Ruby (Don't Take Your Love To Town), Coward Of The County and Lucille.

   

10. 2011 - Paul Simon

    The diminutive singer-songwriter charmed the festival crowd with some of his greatest tunes: 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes and the inevitable crowd-pleasing closer: You Can Call Me Al.

    

    Paul Simon, You Can Call Me Al

11. 2010 - Ray Davies

    The Kinks man was joined by the Crouch End Festival Choir for this Sunday Legends masterclass, which included such evergreens as Waterloo Sunset, Lola, Sunny Afternoon and the amazing encore of Days into All Day And All Of The Night.

    

    Ray Davies dedicates "Waterloo Sunset" and "Days" to Pete Quaife at Glastonbury 2010

12. 2009 - Tom Jones

    Jones The Voice had played the Pyramid Stage in 1992, but it wasn't "officially" a Sunday Legends slot. When he made the return visit 17 years later, those hits were emphatically belted out: What's New Pussycat, Mama Told Me Not To Come, It's Not Unusual and an eye-opened encore of Prince's Kiss into EMF's Unbelievable.

    

    Tom Jones - It's Not Unusual

13. 2008 - Neil Diamond

    The American singer-songwriter has some fine compositions in his portfolio, including Red Red Wine (later covered by UB40), I'm A Believer (recorded by The Monkees) and the singalong classic Sweet Caroline.

    

14. 2007 - Dame Shirley Bassey

    The veteran singer showed off her versatility at one of the wettest festivals ever (she wore wellies with her evening dress): a medley of James Bond themes (Goldfinger / Moonraker / Diamonds Are Forever) and the show-stopping Big Spender brushed shoulders with a cover of Pink's Get The Party Started and Light My Fire by The Doors.

    

15. 2005 - Brian Wilson

    Only the Beach Boys leader could get away with doing a Christmas song in June, but Brian gave the crowd Little Saint Nick in the middle of a glittering set of pop classics. God Only Knows, Good Vibrations, Wouldn't It Be Nice and much, much more. Glastonbury called him back for two encores.

    

16. 2004 - James Brown

    The Godfather Of Soul made one of his final appearances in the UK as he brought his funky thang to the Pyramid Stage: Soul Man, It's A Man's Man's Man's World and Get Up Offa That Thing were unleashed by a world class band.

    

    James Brown - I Feel Good (Glastonbury 2004)

17. 2002 - Isaac Hayes

    Another soul legend for Glastonbury, Hayes inevitably performed his classic Theme From Shaft, but also delighted fans with his South Park song Chocolate Salty Balls. Respect, sir.

    

    Isaac Hayes - Chocolate Salty Balls

18. 2000 - Willie Nelson

    This early entry for the legends slot had a country slant as the veteran legend gave us a sweet version of the standard Always On My Mind.

    

19. 1999 - Al Green

    The Reverend Al Green said farewell to the 90s with some classy tunes including Take Me To The River and Let's Stay Together... nice.

    

    Al Green, Stay Together, 1999 Glastonbury Festival live

20. 1998 - Tony Bennett

    The New York easy listening hero wowed the crowd with a selection of smooth classics, including his signature tune I Left My Heart in San Francisco. The legend is still performing in his 90s, so a return visit to Worthy Farm is not out of the question.