In an exclusive extract from a new book to celebrate Glastonbury festival’s 50th anniversary, its organiser reflects on the time Prince almost played, how she wooed Adele and what it’s like behind the scenes at Britain’s biggest
music event
One evening towards the end of 2013, I was walking up the hill from the farmhouse with my husband, Nick, when we got the email we had been waiting for. I can remember exactly where I was when we read it, looking out over the valley below. The email said that Prince had confirmed to headline Glastonbury. We walked the rest of the way in an ecstatic daze, as we’d been trying to get him to play for as long as I could remember, but it had never looked as if it was going to happen. Until now!
Prince’s promoter in the
UK had even told us in a very direct manner that Prince would never play our festival. But we never gave up on it, because we knew how incredible it would be. We just thought, if we can get Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, then why not Prince? And finally we had him! The funny thing was that there was an incredible sunset that evening, and the sky was completely purple. It felt like a sign.