Jay-Z to headline Glastonbury, says festival founder Eavis
Last Updated: Sunday, February 3, 2008 | 11:30 AM ET
CBC News
The U.K.'s famed Glastonbury Festival has lined up U.S. rap impresario Jay-Z as the headliner for this year's event, founder Michael Eavis revealed to the BBC this weekend.
Eavis had been promising a hip hop "legend" from New York for the upcoming edition of the contemporary music celebration in June.
Organizers hope that headliner Jay-Z will help attract younger music fans to the massive outdoor festival.
(Associated Press)
The choice of the iconic rapper, former record label chief and hip-hop entrepreneur was an attempt to "break with tradition this time and put on something totally different," Eavis told BBC Somerset.
"He will appeal to the young people and the under-25s for sure," he said, adding that Jay-Z is "not like the traditional [acts] we do, like Radiohead, Coldplay, and Muse and Oasis."
Though most of the other artists set to take Glastonbury's stage are still a secret, last week, Eavis revealed that U.S. crooner Neil Diamond will be featured in the festival's veterans slot, which has been filled by the likes of Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey in the past few years.
Pre-registration opened on Friday for the world renowned outdoor music festival — held each year on Eavis's dairy farm in Somerset, England, for nearly four decades. Ticket sales are set to begin April 6.
More than 150,000 music fans are expected to attend the three-day festival, considered the world's largest green-field music and performing arts event. Over the years, its lineup has featured everyone from veterans such as Paul McCartney, The Who, Iggy Pop and James Brown, to new hitmakers like Arcade Fire, White Stripes, Amy Winehouse and Arctic Monkeys.
This year's edition is set to run June 27-29.
