From Lewis Capaldi's triumphant return to a surprise album party: Here's what you've missed at Glastonbury 2025 so far
Lewis Capaldi made a triumphant return to live performing, two years after an emotional Glastonbury set saw him take an indefinite hiatus. (Reuters: Jaimi Joy)
Glastonbury — the UK's biggest music festival — is back for another year.
From a morning album party to celebrity cameos, Friday was full of surprises.
Here's what you may have missed.
Lewis Capaldi makes a triumphant return
A placeholder slot on the Pyramid Stage line-up was the source of great speculation in the lead-up to Friday.
Murmurs that the spot was for Lewis Capaldi turned out to be true when the singer walked onto the festival's main stage.
A timeslot listed as TBA turned out to be for Lewis Capaldi. (Reuters: Jaimi Joy)
Capaldi took a two-year career hiatus after his emotional Glastonbury 2023 set, where he experienced a bout of tics caused by his Tourette's syndrome.
"Thank you to Glastonbury for having me, for singing along when I needed it and for all the amazing messages afterwards," he wrote at the time.
"The truth is, I'm still learning to adjust to the impact of my Tourette's and on Saturday it became obvious that I need to spend much more time getting my mental and physical health in order, so I can keep doing everything I love for a long time to come."
Two years on, Capaldi returned to the festival's main stage to a roaring cheer, raising one finger to the sky.
"I'm not going to say much up here today, because if I do I think I'll probably start crying," he told the crowd.
"It's just a short set today but I just wanted to come and finish what I couldn't finish first time around on this stage."
His set included his new single Survive, released on Friday, which details his mental health challenges, and ended with Someone You Loved.
"I might struggle to finish it for a different reason today," he said.
Lorde's secret set
Capaldi wasn't the only surprise performance on Friday.
Lorde performed a surprise set on the release day of her new album Virgin. (Reuters: Jaimi Joy)
Lorde rewarded early risers over on the Woodsies stage, belting out every song from her new album Virgin from 11am.
The New Zealand artist had shared an aerial photo of the Woodsies tent early Friday morning, hinting at her surprise appearance.
The tent spilled over with crowds, forcing organisers to close access to the stage's surrounding field.
The 1975 headline the Pyramid Stage
They hadn't performed a gig since March last year, but The 1975 still put on an energetic performance.
The Pyramid Stage had a custom set-up for its headline act. (Reuters: Jaimi Joy)
Toting a pint of Guinness in one hand and a cigarette in the other, Matty Healy slinked onto the custom designed set, asking the crowd: "How have you guys been?"
The band pulled out its biggest hits, including Love Me and About You, with Healy at times skidding across a travelator extending across the length of the stage.
A screen above them appeared to pre-empt some of the mixed reactions their set would receive on social media, flashing snarky commentary.
"This band thinks it has a charismatic singer," white text on a pink screen read, interspersed with live footage of Healy.
"… they are mistaken.
"Terrible high-pitched vocals over soulless robo beats. Punch your TV obnoxious. Totally lacking the wow factor. Pompous arena synth. Genuinely laughable."
At another point, Healy told the crowd the band didn't want to be "about politics", before launching into Love It If We Made It.
Behind the band, corresponding footage of missile strikes, Donald Trump, Kanye West and police violence flickered in a red and blue filter.
As the set closed out with About You, the word DOGS appeared on screens, and a single woof reverberated over the grounds, foreshadowing a new era of music for the band.
10,000 spoons?
The lyric may be three decades old, but it appears the irony of 10,000 spoons still resonates with Alanis Morissette fans today.
The '90s alt-rock icon made her Glastonbury debut on the main stage, bringing a set list of classics from her Jagged Little Pill album.
Some in the crowd had come equipped with cutlery, which they brandished in the air as Morissette performed Isn't It Ironic.
Celebrity cameos
Over the years, Glastonbury has become synonymous with the odd celebrity cameo outside of headline performances.
If Friday is anything to go by, this year will be no different.
Paul McCartney was seen at the Other Stage, watching Gracie Abrams and Inhaler with his daughter Stella.
Former bandmates Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson were both spotted blending into crowds around the grounds.
At his set on the Other Stage, Busta Rhymes had Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson record video greetings to play during their collaboration tracks, I Know What You Want and What's It Gonna Be.