Rod Stewart has revealed that he “begged” for a longer set at Glastonbury 2025, while sharing details about his rider and pre-show ritual.
The singer-songwriter is set to take on the coveted Legends Slot at this year’s festival next Sunday (June 29). He previously headlined the Pyramid Stage in 2002, alongside Coldplay and Stereophonics.
Stewart recently confirmed that he would be reuniting with his former Faces bandmate and Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood onstage at Glasto ’25.
During a new interview with the Radio Times, he explained that organisers had initially given him a shorter set – a decision he subsequently challenged.
“It’s difficult because they only gave me an hour-and-a-quarter slot. So I begged them: can I do another 15 minutes? Because usually I play for two hours,” Stewart told the publication.
He went on to tease two more surprise names, in addition to Wood.
“It means that there’s a lot of songs that people love that I won’t be able to play – and I’ve got three guests coming on,” said Stewart, whose slot is scheduled between 15:45 and 17:15.
He also spoke about his rider, saying: “I looked at it the other day and I thought, what is all this shit doing here?” Stewart explained: “One thing I do love is a drink.” Revealing his picks, he continued: “All I need is a few bottles of wine and some crisps, and that’s it.
I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that I’ll be playing @glastonbury 2025! After all these years, I’m proud and ready and more than able to take the stage again to pleasure and titillate my friends at Glastonbury in June. I’ll see you there! pic.twitter.com/YCeaPRhVUn
— Sir Rod Stewart (@rodstewart) November 26, 2024
“And there’s all these bloody things! What am I gonna do with them? No hummus, but big piles of bananas and apples! And when you think the whole world’s bloody starving. I gotta do something about that. Thank you for reminding me.”
Stewart went on: “The band have their booze that they request and I have mine. But I think why I love touring now is that we have the best after-gig party. All the girls come, we all get showered, all the girls are dancing.
“We put music on and we’re all having a laugh. It’s so much more fun than it was in the old days with just the guys. So many egos and drug-taking. It’s brilliant, I love it now.”
Stewart revealed that he “always [has] a little gargle before I go on”, before sharing his drink of choice: rum and coke. “Been drinking that 40 years,” he said. “I never drink it any other time… The vocal cords need a lot of looking after. I mean, they’re absolute gold.
“I warm up for an hour, warm down for half an hour. And when I feel I’m losing my voice, I go into what they call ‘voice rest’ and wear a little card around my neck that says ‘I can’t talk. Don’t talk to me.’ And it’s remarkable how your voice will come back.”
Fans have been concerned about whether Stewart will make it to Glastonbury 2025, after he cancelled a run of shows in Las Vegas recently. In an update on June 7, the singer said he was recovering from a bout of flu.
Glastonbury 2025 line-up poster. Credit: Glastonbury Festival
Looking ahead to Glasto ’25, there are multiple ‘TBA’ slots remaining on the line-up – including one billed as a mystery act, ‘Patchwork’. This is rumoured to be Pulp, who’d be returning to the Pyramid Stage 30 years on from their 1995 headline gig. Jarvis Cocker and co. have just released their first album in 24 years, ‘More’.
Meanwhile, Lewis Capaldi is reportedly due to appear in the brief Pyramid Stage gap next Friday (June 27) between 4.55pm and 5.30pm. Additionally, there’s speculation that Lorde could be celebrating the release of her new album, ‘Virgin’, by opening the Woodsies stage that morning.
Haim, meanwhile, have addressed rumours that they’ll be returning to their “favourite” Glastonbury stage, The Park – where they would showcase their fourth studio record, ‘I Quit’.
In other news, the weather forecast for this year’s Glastonbury has now come into range. Elsewhere, organisers have shared the full line-up, times and stage splits, and the newly updated site map.
Glastonbury 2025 will be headlined by The 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo. Visit here for all NME‘s latest coverage.
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