Lewis Capaldi says ‘I'm back baby' as he makes emotional return to Glastonbury
The crowd started chanting 'Oh Lewis Capaldi' before he began playing the hit song Before You Go, to kick off his set, which had been listed as 'TBA' on the Glastonbury website.
Lewis Capaldi delighted fans with a short set at Glastonbury (Yui Mok/PA)
The musician, who announced a break from touring shortly after his performance at the festival in 2023, has just released a new song called Survive.
He told fans: 'It's so good to be back. I'm not going to say much up here today, because if I do, I think I will probably start crying.
'But it's just amazing to be here with you all, and I can't thank you all enough for coming out and coming and seeing me.
'Second time's a charm on this one, everybody.
'It's just a short set today, but I just wanted to come and kind of finish what I couldn't finish the first time round.'
A fan holds a 'Welcome back Lewis Capaldi' sign (Yui Mok/PA)
He performed a 35-minute set on the Pyramid Stage with songs including Hold You While You Wait and Grace.
Introducing his new song, he became visibly emotional as he said: 'The last two years haven't been the best for me, it's been difficult at times.
'This has been my f****** goal, to get back here', he added.
He ended his performance with Somebody You Loved, the track that Glastonbury crowd's helped him to sing when he struggled with his Tourette symptoms in 2023.
The star ended his set saying 'I'm Lewis Capaldi and I'm f****** back baby' (Yui Mok/PA)
'I really missed doing this for the last two years, it's been difficult at times to like think that maybe this wouldn't ever happen again…
'I couldn't sing this song two years ago for a different reason. I think I might struggle this time for another reason, but this time it's a good reason.'
He added: 'My name's Lewis Capaldi and I'm f***** back baby.'
Earlier on Friday, alternative pop star Lorde surprised fans with a secret set at Worthy Farm, performing her latest album Virgin, which was released on Friday, in full.
Elsewhere at the festival, British pop rock band The 1975 will be the first headliners to grace the Glastonbury Festival's Pyramid Stage this year when they perform on Friday.
Lorde held a secret gig at Woodsies tent (Yui Mok/PA)
Made up of four school friends, the group, known for songs including Chocolate, Someone Else and About You, comprises singer Matt Healy, bassist Ross MacDonald, guitarist Adam Hann and drummer George Daniel.
The five-day celebration of music and performing arts, which opened its gates on Wednesday, will also host headline performances from veteran rocker Neil Young and his band the Chrome Hearts, and US pop star Olivia Rodrigo.
The BBC confirmed on Thursday that Young's Saturday Pyramid Stage set will not be broadcast live 'at the artist's request'.
Supergrass performed on the main stage, 30 years after their classic debut album was released (Ben Birchall/PA)
This year's line-up features a number of acts listed as TBA, as well as a mysterious act called Patchwork, which will take to the Pyramid Stage on Saturday.
Festivalgoers had a clear morning after significant rainfall overnight, with temperatures reaching the mid-20s, according to the Met Office.
The Met Office's Grahame Madge said: 'Heat and humidity will be building over the weekend. We anticipate highs of 26C on Saturday, with high levels of humidity. By Monday temperatures can be anticipated to be over 30C.
'There is always the chance of a light shower, but there is nothing in the forecast that suggests anything heavier for Saturday for Somerset.'
Avon and Somerset Police said there had been 38 crimes reported at the festival, and 14 arrests made.
Fans have gathered at Worthy Farm for a typically spectacular line-up (Ben Birchall/PA)
On Saturday Irish rap trio Kneecap, who have had one of their members charged with a terror offence, will perform on the West Holts Stage at 4pm.
Before the festival, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it would not be 'appropriate' for them to perform.
Liam Og O hAnnaidh, 27, was charged with allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah at a gig in London in November last year.
Last week the rapper, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was cheered by hundreds of supporters as he arrived with bandmates Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh at Westminster Magistrates' Court in Free Mo Chara T-shirts.
He was released on unconditional bail until the next hearing at the same court on August 20.
On Thursday the trio posted a film they executive produced on social media, titled Stop The Genocide, which includes testimonies from a Palestinian activist and plastic surgeon on the war in Gaza.
With a sunny few days predicted here at Worthy Farm, please take a moment to read this advice on staying safe in the heat. #Glastonbury2025 pic.twitter.com/ilnbdCcLKc
— Glastonbury Festival (@glastonbury) June 27, 2025
Performing in the coveted Sunday legends slot this year is Sir Rod Stewart, who previously said he will be joined by his former Faces band member Ronnie Wood, as well as other guests.
Sir Rod's performance will come after he postponed a string of concerts in the US, due to take place this month, while he recovered from flu.
In celebration of his legends slot South Western Railway has unveiled a new plaque at Twickenham railway station, where it is said that, years ago, he happened upon blues singer and band leader Long John Baldry, with whom he later played in the Hoochie Coochie Men.
Among the other acts expected to draw large crowds this year is pop star Charli XCX, who is engaged to The 1975 drummer Daniel, and will perform songs from her sixth studio album, Brat.
She is performing on Saturday night on the Other Stage, 15 minutes before the West Holts stage is graced by US rapper Doechii, another artist who has exploded in popularity in the last year.
The BBC is providing livestreams of the five main stages: Pyramid, Other, West Holts, Woodsies and The Park.
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The 1975's first Glastonbury headlining slot arrives preceded by some intriguing rumours about what's going to happen. Some fairly eye-popping figures are being bandied about regarding the cost of their set's staging – which allegedly vastly outweighs the fee the band are being paid – while one dubious online source insists Healy has shaved his head for the occasion. He hasn't (he appears onstage tonsorially intact), but clearly large sums of money have been spent somewhere along the way. What ensues isn't quite as complex as their last tour, which featured lead singer Matty Healy eating raw steak, doing push ups, climbing through a television and Prince Andrew's face appearing on a bank of television screens accompanied by the strains of Mahler's 5th Symphony. Nevertheless, there are huge video screens everywhere: not just behind the band, but above them and at either side of the stage, and indeed below the actual video screens that Glastonbury traditionally provides. The treadmill that ran across the front of the stage during their 2018 tour – there for Healy to glide around on, something he does with admirable insouciance – makes a reappearance, while, for reasons that aren't entirely clear, the rear half of a car makes an appearance stage right at one point. Healy sings from within it. The screens alternately bathe the stage in white or pink light, show Adam Curtis-esque montages of news footage, flash up lyrics as Healy sings them – a good idea in the case of Part of the Band, a song packed with authentically funny lines. But this being the 1975, never a band to miss the opportunity to make a meta point about being in a band, they also flash up critiques of Healy's lyrics – 'MINDLESS HOLLERING' – and more generally, of the 1975 themselves: 'They're essentially making robotic Huey Lewis tunes' is a particularly cutting judgement on the band's signature synth-heavy, pastel-hued 80s pop-rock-influenced sound. Later, the screens render their lyrics as meaningless gibberish by displaying what it sounds like he's singing – 'oh mah hez smell like chocolate'. And this is done immediately after Healy informs the audience that he's 'the greatest songwriter of my generation … a poet'. 'I was only joking,' he adds later, although his talent as a frontman is less open to question: there's something gripping about the way he switches from straightforward 'Glastonbury-are-you-with-us?' enthusiasm to role-playing as a raddled, tormented pop star, pint in one hand, cigarette in the other. He makes earnest pronouncements about the lasting friendships at the centre of the band and is seemingly astonished at the size of the crowd: 'Oh Jesus,' he mutters as the lights reveal its full extent, 'yeah, it's normal, it's fine'. But then, there'll be arched-eyebrow examinations of his own genius, from posing to dancing with wild enthusiasm. It's a show that's frequently strange and self-deprecating – an intriguingly different approach to the business of headlining the world's biggest music festival – although it runs the risk of the actual music they make getting lost somewhere amid the visual bombardment and commentary. Happily, their set also functions as a reminder that behind all the irony, the 1975 are impressively skilled at the prosaic business of writing songs. If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know) or She's American have pop-facing melodies strong enough to shine through. The one point where the staging seems to overwhelm the show itself is during a lengthy interlude when the band vanish from the stage entirely and the message 'Matty is changing his trousers' flashes on to the screen. It's a very risky move indeed at a festival where there's always something else you could be watching: a minor exodus duly takes place in the audience. But when they return they start rolling out the big hits: It's Not Living (If It's Not With You), Sex, Love It If We Made It's dense parade of millennial angst, the gleaming pop of The Sound. It ends with About You's appropriately epic balladry, and the members of the 1975 embracing each other, apparently genuinely emotional: a straightforward conclusion to a bold, experimental, occasionally confounding, but ultimately hugely impressive performance.
