Shania Twain performs ‘life-changing’ Glastonbury set to sea of cowboy hats
By Hannah Roberts and Charlotte McLaughlin, PA Entertainment Reporters
Shania Twain described her Glastonbury Festival set as “life-changing” as she was joined by thousands of music fans at Worthy Farm wearing cowboy hats.
The Canadian country singer performed from her back catalogue of hits during the festival’s coveted Legends slot, beginning with hit track That Don’t Impress Me Much and ending with up-beat tune Man! I Feel Like A Woman!
The 58-year-old took to the stage wearing a ruffled pink ensemble which she then took off, revealing a black mini-dress.
Twain revealed that she had explored the festival site ahead of her debut performance.
“This really is a city, it’s a community,” she said.
Later on she told the crowd: “I find moments like this very life changing.”
Twain is also set to perform a headline set at Hyde Park’s British Summer Time (BST) festival on July 7 with special guests The Corrs.
Fans such as Grace Carroll, 32, told the PA news agency how it meant so much to her as she has been “obsessed” with Twain since she was nine years old.
The fundraising officer, from London, added: “She set the blueprint, you know, like, without Shania Twain, there’d be no Taylor Swift.
“So she’s, yes, literally, an icon, perfect person to have on the Legend stage.”
Following Twain’s set, fellow Canadian Avril Lavigne played her hits including Sk8r Boi, Girlfriend and Complicated on the Other stage, telling the crowd that she has always “loved” performing in the UK.
Nigerian singer Burna Boy also amped up festival-goers from the Pyramid Stage, by getting them to jump up and down and sing along to his Afrobeat hits.
The 32-year-old musician finished with the crowd-pleaser Last Last, which was nominated for a Grammy for best global music performance, following him performing Gbona and Tested, Approved & Trusted.
His staging featured a plastic life-sized horse on stage and a prop building on stage, named Burna’s saloon.
Earlier on Sunday, a barefoot Paloma Faith offered relationship advice to the Pyramid Stage audience, aimed at just the men.
After leading the audience in a singalong of her track Sweatpants, from her latest album The Glorification Of Sadness – which deals with the end of a relationship, the 42-year-old British singer said she had been experimenting with dating apps.
But she called that form of finding love the “wild west” as people “don’t really know how to connect anymore”.
Faith added: “Try and stay together, but it’s the resentment that’s the problem.
“So all I’m asking, this is a plea, I’m talking about (heterosexual) men, if you are married … and I just want you to notice that if a woman does the same action every single day, it means it needs doing, so don’t wait to ask to do it, just do it.”
Dressed in a tight pink-and-red dress, Faith had struggled with a sore throat, leading to the cancellation of her Friday gig in Southampton’s Guildhall Square, but belted out all her hits at Glastonbury, using her wide-ranging vocal skills.
She also appeared to be warned in her ear piece by the production team that she needed to stop talking and finish the slot.
Faith said: “I’ve talked too much, so I’m not allowed to address you again.”
Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett headed to Faith’s set earlier in the day and it was also reportedly watched by former Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker.
Meanwhile, Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis spoke to the festival’s resident newspaper about her plans for next year.
She told Sunday’s edition of Glastonbury Free Press: “We’re taking a fallow year in 2026 to give the land a rest, and the festival before a fallow year is always a fun one to plan because you almost have to fit two years into one.
“We’re already in talks with some acts for it. It’s exciting.”
Eavis also hailed the festival as a place where we can all “come together and find our common ground” and added that it “restores your faith in humanity”.
American soul singer SZA will close out this year’s festival when she performs her headline slot at 9.30pm.
The 34-year-old, whose real name is Solana Rowe and is known for songs including PSA, Snooze, All The Stars and Shirt, is one of two female headliners at the event this year alongside Dua Lipa, who filled the Friday night headline slot.
SZA’s Glastonbury headline slot follows on from her Saturday night show at BST Hyde Park after which she posted on Instagram writing: “Thank you for vibing w me Hyde park. See ya tomorrow Glastonbury!!!!”
British rock band Coldplay headlined the Pyramid Stage on Saturday night for the fifth time, cementing their place in the musical history books of Glastonbury by becoming the first act to headline the festival five times.
Their special guests included Back To The Future star Michael J Fox, who played the guitar on stage during their song, Fix You, as well as British rapper Little Simz and Nigerian singer Burna Boy, who previously collaborated with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin on the song, Monsters You Made.
While sharing a video of Fox at the festival on X, the British band said: “Thank you Michael J Fox for making our dream come true.”
Fox has not been acting as much over the last few decades, after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991.