Weeks after jamming with former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne at Governors Ball in New York, Olivia Rodrigo welcomed the Cure’s Robert Smith to duet on his band’s classics “Friday I’m in Love” and “Just Like Heaven” yesterday (June 29) at the Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England.
“He’s perhaps the best songwriter to come out of England,” Rodrigo said of Smith, who strummed his trusty black acoustic guitar while trading vocals with the American pop star. “He is a Glastonbury legend and a personal hero of mine.”
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Rodrigo performed at Glastonbury in 2022 but made her headlining debut yesterday in front of a massive crowd. “Holy fucking shit, this is the most people I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” she exclaimed. “This is a dream come true. I actually can’t believe this is my life right now.”
However, the final day of Glastonbury was not without controversy, after the group Bob Vylan shouted “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]” during their performance. Per Deadline, Bob Vylan have since been dropped by their booking agency, UTA.
“Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence,” the festival said in a statement shortly afterwards.
Today, the BBC admitted it should have immediately taken down Bob Vylan’s livestream. “The team were dealing with a live situation but with hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance. We regret this did not happen,” the broadcaster said. “The BBC respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence. The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves. In light of this weekend, we will look at our guidance around live events so we can be sure teams are clear on when it is acceptable to keep output on air.”
Group member Bobby Vylan shrugged off the issue on Instagram, flatly stating, “I said what I said. It is incredibly important that we encourage and inspire future generations to pick up the torch that was passed to us. Let us display to them loudly and visibly the right thing to do when we want and need change. Let them see us marching in the streets, campaigning on ground level, organizing online and shouting about it on any and every stage that we are offered.”
Irish act Kneecap, one member of which is under British investigation for previous onstage comments in support of a Palestinian terrorist organization, did not address their own recent travails onstage at Glastonbury, and their set was not included on the livestream.
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