Pulp’s Candida Doyle says Glastonbury “weren’t interested” in band playing to mark 30 years of headline set
Candida Doyle, the keyboard player for Pulp, has said that Glastonbury “weren’t interested” in booking the band – despite this year marking three decades since their headline slot.
The Britpop icons took to the stage as last-minute headliners for the legendary festival back in 1995 – stepping in to replace The Stone Roses as headliners after guitarist John Squire shattered his collarbone.
The slot catapulted to a new level of success, and helped their fifth studio album ‘Different Class’ go four-times platinum when it was shared four months after the gig. Jarvis Cocker and co. would then play a surprise set on the Park Stage at the festival in 2011.
Now, three decades on from their headline slot, the band are heavily speculated to be making a return to the Worthy Farm site when things kick off this week. Although they are not on the bill, they are one of the leading artists rumoured to be either on a ‘TBA’ slot or to be the mystery act performing on the pyramid stage under the ‘Patchwork’ alias.
Doyle, however, has put a damper on hopes in a new interview with BBC Radio 6 – saying that the festival organisers were not willing to add them to the line-up.
“We wanted to, just because it’s the 30th anniversary and that kind of thing, and they weren’t interested. And then we were thinking maybe next year, and then they’re not doing it next year,” she said, referring to how Glasto will take a fallow year in 2026.
She isn’t the only one to dismiss rumours of a return to the site. In the spring, Cocker said that the Sheffield band would only go back for a performance if it was a “life or death situation”.
Later, he spoke out on the loss of bassist Steve Mackey and said that while Glastonbury has a very important place in our heart,” they have “no plans” to play this year.
Despite comments from Cocker and Doyle, widespread talk and rumour among festival and industry insiders still suggest that Patchwork will indeed be Pulp.
This comes as the band have been on tour recently, celebrating the release of ‘More’ – their critically acclaimed first new album in 24 years.
While bookies have given the strongest odds on Pulp being the artist behind the ‘Patchwork’ moniker, another widely suspected name for the slot is Lorde. This comes as the Kiwi singer is gearing up to share her new album
‘Virgin’ on Friday (June 27), and recently told Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 2 that she was eager to “pull some strings” to try and make a Glasto appearance.
Other rumoured names for Glasto 2025 surprise sets include HAIM – who released their ‘I Quit’ album on June 20 and have begun hinting at a gig at The Park Stage – as well as Ed Sheeran, Mumford & Sons, Lewis Capaldi, Robbie Williams, Elton John , and Radiohead.
If it were to be Lewis Capaldi who took on the slot, it would be his first since he played on the Pyramid stage in 2023, but struggled with his voice several times due to tics caused by Tourette’s – the neurological condition he has open about suffering with.
He told the crowd at the time his voice was “really fucking packing in”, but went on to finish the rest of his set with help from the audience, in a moment that was later hailed as “amazingly powerful”.
The iconic festival will be returning to Worthy Farm in Somerset this week, and running between June 25 and 29. Headliners are Neil Young, The 1975 and Olivia Rodrigo on the Pyramid Stage, and Loyle Carner, Charli XCX and The Prodigy on the Other Stage. Rod Steward will be playing Sunday’s Legend’s Slot.
As for other Pulp news, earlier this month Pulp played two sold-out shows at The O2 in London, where they celebrated scoring their first Number One album in 27 years.
The post Pulp’s Candida Doyle says Glastonbury “weren’t interested” in band playing to mark 30 years of headline set appeared first on NME.
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