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Duran Duran Say They’ll Only Play Glastonbury If They’re Given a Headline Slot
Duran Duran say they will not play Glastonbury unless they are booked as headliners, with Simon Le Bon pointing to a rejected afternoon slot.
Duran Duran have made their position on Glastonbury clear: they are not interested in a low afternoon slot. The band say they will only play Worthy Farm if they are booked as one of the headliners.
The new wave synthpop group have sold more than 100 million records, have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and have collected Grammy and Brit Awards. Even so, they have never appeared at the festival.
In a new interview with The Sunday Times, Simon Le Bon explained why the band have stayed away from Glastonbury’s stages, including the Pyramid Stage.
“Well, we want to – but not in a disco tent at 3pm, which is what we were offered,” he said. “We want the right slot… We shouldn’t be below anybody on the bill. So, we’ll hold out because we’re a headline act – that’s all there is to it.”
Le Bon made a similar point in 2023 when speaking to NME about the possibility of the band playing the festival.
“I’d love to [do it] – we just need to get the right slot, that’s all,” he said. “We have had the chance to do it before, but it wasn’t playing the main stage and I think we’d like to be doing that for sure. I’m sure we’re in negotiations [with Glastonbury], and if not, we will be.”
The band’s last UK live dates came in October 2025, when they headlined Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena and Manchester’s Co-op Live. They also closed Latitude 2024 and performed at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022.
Glastonbury is set for a fallow year in 2026 before returning from June 23 to 27 in 2027. Tickets go on sale in November this year, and fans must register before they can buy.
No acts have been announced yet, but Sam Fender, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift are among the bookies’ favourites to top the bill. There is also speculation that The Rolling Stones could return to Worthy Farm next year, after Keith Richards recently hinted that the band will be on the road in 2027.
Duran Duran released their new single Free To Love in April. It reunited them with Chic’s Nile Rodgers, who worked with the band on 1984’s chart-topping The Reflex. They are also due to play BST Hyde Park on July 5, with Scissor Sisters on the bill.
