Glastonbury 2023: Arctic Monkeys and Guns N' Roses join Elton John as festival headliners

Lizzo, Royal Blood, Blondie and Fatboy Slim are also on the bill

Michael Eavis, Glastonbury Festival's founder, join fans on the opening day of the event in June 2022, the first since the pandemic began. AP

Eavis, right, and his daughter Emily, left, open the Glastonbury gates. AP

Campers put up their tent on the first day of the Glastonbury festival. Reuters

A festivalgoer is sprayed with water by a steward to cool them down on the first day of the festival. Reuters

Revellers arrive for Glastonbury. Reuters

More than 200,000 revellers will descend on Worthy Farm. Reuters

Guests arrive as the sun shines. Reuters

From left, Simon Lampard, 52, Pat Brooks, 82 and Linda Brooks-Lampard, 51 arrive on the first day. AP

Billie Eilish, Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar will headline this year's festival. Reuters

Thousands of people queue in the sunshine. Reuters

Police officers keep watch as revellers arrive. Reuters

People queue as the gates open. Reuters

The festival will run for five days until Sunday. Reuters

Arctic Monkeys and Guns N’ Roses are the final two headliners for this year’s Glastonbury Festival.

They join previously announced Sir Elton John, who will play his final farewell show in the UK on the Sunday, with the five-day event commencing on June 21.

Other names on the bill include Lizzo, who will open for Guns N’ Roses on Saturday, Royal Blood, Alt-J, Chvrches, Blondie, Fatboy Slim, Lil Nas X, Wizkid, Hot Chip and Lana Del Rey.

The Sunday afternoon “legend’s slot”, as it’s known, will be played by Cat Stevens. He is on the bill as Yusuf / Cat Stevens, having legally changed his name to Yusuf Islam after converting to Islam in 1977.

The festival’s organiser Emily Eavis said that they had initially had a female booked to headline, but due to a clash with her touring schedule, Guns N’ Roses were brought in at the last minute.

It was widely rumoured that Taylor Swift would be one of this year’s headliners. She was scheduled to headline the 2020 festival that was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Glastonbury made a triumphant comeback last June after a two-year hiatus owing to the pandemic. Kendrick Lamar, Sir Paul McCartney and Billie Eilish headlined the famous Pyramid Stage across the main three days.

There are more than 100 stages at the festival, with thousands of acts taking part each year. Away from music, there are also spaces for performing arts, wellness, theatre, cinema and a circus.

Tickets for the five-day festival, which is one of the world’s biggest music events, are notoriously hard to secure. The initial sale took place in November, with all 200,000 selling out in an hour — a little longer than usual due to a technical fault.