Glastonbury 2015: Lionel Ritchie’s Performance Draws More than 100,000 People
Lionel Richie’s performance has drawn the biggest crowd of this year’s Glastonbury Festival, with at least 100,000 people estimated to have watched the singer.
The Pyramid Stage field at Worthy Farm was packed to see Lionel Richie playing hits like Dancing on the Ceiling, Hello and Say You Say Me.
This year’s festival closed with The Who performing their hits on the Pyramid Stage as part of a world tour that has been billed as their last.
Paul Weller and Patti Smith also played and the Dalai Lama visited the site.
The 177,000 festivalgoers are now making their way home from the Somerset site.
Photo Reuters
Lionel Richie’s performance in the festival’s traditional Sunday afternoon “legend” slot will be remembered as one of this year’s highlights.
Organizers suggested the field could have been near its 120,000 capacity when the star played.
Lionel Richie’s set included hits like All Night Long, We Are The World, Easy and Three Times A Lady.
Fans chanted the singer’s name and the security guards in front of the stage had even learned a dance that they performed when Lionel Richie played Dancing on the Ceiling.
After that song, the singer looked disbelievingly at the size of the crowd and repeated: “What the hell is going on?”
Lionel Richie was following in the footsteps of stars like Dolly Parton, Tom Jones and Neil Diamond, who have taken the Sunday afternoon slot in the past.
At the end of the night, The Who brought the festival to a close with a greatest hits set that included rock classics like Pinball Wizard, Baba O’Riley and Won’t Get Fooled Again.
They also took a dig at Kanye West’s claim, made during his Saturday headline slot, to be the world’s greatest rock star.
The Who’s Glastonbury appearance was part of a world tour to mark their 50th anniversary, which singer Roger Daltrey has described as “the beginning of the long goodbye”.
Elsewhere at the festival, dance favorites The Chemical Brothers ended proceedings on a high on the Other Stage, while there were also appearances by Ryan Adams, art-pop auteur FKA Twigs and FFS – a group made from merging Franz Ferdinand and Sparks.