A Third Of The UK Tuned Into Elton John's Glastonbury Set, Breaking Festival Records

It’s official: Elton John’s epic performance at Glastonbury was the most-watched performance in the festival’s history.

While 200,000 were there, a further 21.6 million people tuned into the BBC’s Glastonbury TV broadcast – that’s a third of the UK’s population.

Proper crowd #EltonJohn #Glastonbury pic.twitter.com/UsgN2d3zXs

— Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) June 25, 2023

But it was during Elton John’s three-hour headline set when BBC One recorded a peak audience of 7.6 million, which is three times more viewers than Paul McCartney’s show attracted in the same slot last year.

In comparison, a million tuned into Guns N’ Roses on Saturday night and 1.5 million watched Arctic Monkeys on Friday night, according to overnights.tv.

Billed as his final UK performance, the Rocket Man belted out the classics including “I’m Still Standing”, “Candle in the Wind” and “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”. A string of special guests also joined him onstage, including The Killers’ Brandon Flowers and Rina Sawayama, who filled in Kiki Dee’s part during the 1976 hit, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”.

One reviewer described it as ‘the glitziest, most high-energy retirement party the world has ever seen’.