Share
30th June 2024
11:10am BST
Many of us are still reeling from watching the illuminating and emotional headline performance of Coldplay at Glastonbury Festival last night.
For those of us who weren't lucky enough to secure tickets to the five-day Somerset carnival of music, the BBC provided two hours of coverage of what was undoubtedly one of the great performances in the history of the festival.
Their set was packed full of hits from start to finish, and included several special guests including Little Simz, Laura Mvula and legendary actor Michael J Fox.
The stars on stage were surrounded by more stars in the wings and in the crowd below.
Hollywood actors Tom Cruise and Simon Pegg were watching on, fresh from filming Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part Two, and The Crown's Gillian Anderson was in attendance alongside them.
Stormzy, who headlined on the same stage in 2022, watched on from the crowd as Chris Martin and co provided high energy and feel good anthems from start to finish.
While the prestige and sense of accomplishment that comes with headlining the historic event would presumably be enough reward for most artists, many of you might be left pondering the question: 'How much does a Glastonbury headliner get paid?'
Erm, that’s @TomCruise, Simon Pegg and @GillianA singing Don’t Look Back In Anger by @oasis just before @coldplay come onstage at @glastonbury. pic.twitter.com/vner2CP6c1
— Matt Everitt (@matteveritt) June 29, 2024
You'd initially think a hefty pay cheque would be exchanging hands as soon as the headliners walk off the stage, but considering Sir Michael Eavis' long history of supporting charities and promoting sustainability and supporting environmental causes, money isn't necessarily the motivation for rocking the Pyramid Stage.
Rather than millions, Dua Lipa and Coldplay will receive roughly £200,000 (around €236,000) each for their respective top-bill showings.
In Dua Lipa's case, a large proportion of those earnings will already have been spent on her big-money production and set and staging costs.
However, considering Coldplay are currently on tour, they will have saved some dosh by arriving with their own crew and set design ready to go, and won't have required as much rehearsal time.
While the money on offer at Glastonbury is much lower than the amounts on the table at other festivals such as BST Hyde Park - where some headliners earn around four times that amount - the reason for the drop is an important one.
Sir Michael Eavis chooses to donate around £2 million to charity every year that the festival runs.
Thanks to the historical significance attached with headlining Glastonbury, and the respect Eavis has garnered from musicians and performers throughout his career, Glastonbury is one of few festivals that has the ability to secure the biggest names in music for a cut-price fee.
Thankfully for the festival-goer and viewer at home, it means we can expect the most sought-after artists to appear at the Worthy Farm extravaganza for many years to come.
During last night's performance, Chris Martin expressed his love for the occasion and expressed his gratitude towards the festival’s founder.
“This is our favourite thing to do on earth, so thank you for letting us do it here,” he said. “We just want to thank you (Eavis), as humans go you’re the best of all sorts, you’re a musical charmer, you’re the world’s greatest farmer. Whoever got knighted wearing shorts? Thank you Michael, we love you.”
Read more:
Explore more on these topics:
