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Elton John caused quite a stir in Glastonbury last night as the Rocketman singer performed for what may be his last performance, and he was watched by more than seven million viewers on the BBC. The number was almost three times what Paul McCartney had in 2022.
The legendary British singer’s three-hour performance garnered nearly 50% market share and is set to become one of the most-watched TV shows of the year, right behind Happy Valley, according to nights.tv’s Barb data. His performance was by far the most-watched Glastonbury performance of the weekend on the BBC, which gives extensive coverage of the Worthy Farm fest.
According to initial estimates, the festival’s performance was one of the most watched of all time, possibly surpassing Dolly Parton in 2014 with well over 100,000 viewers.
John, who previously said last night would be his last performance, has fought his way through every hit of his five-decade career, including Candle in the Wind, Rocketman and Tiny Dancer. He was joined on stage by singer-songwriter Stephen Sanchez and The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers.
John easily topped Saturday night’s headliner Guns ‘N’ Roses ratings, which hit just over 1 million, while Friday’s Arctic Monkeys drew 1.5 million ratings.
Glastonbury has been busy and buzzing with life for the past few days as the weather has remained stable. The festival, one of the largest in the world, has also featured artists such as Blondie, Lana Del Rey, Cat Stevens and Lewis Capaldi. The latter was watched by 2.2 million viewers but, struggling with Tourette’s syndrome on stage, was forced to abandon his set.
The festival did not shy away from controversy either. A screening of Oh, Jeremy Corbyn, The Big Lie was canceled after Jewish groups accused her of spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, while an artist called for footage of her performance to be removed from the BBC’s platforms after she was mistreated.