Hundreds of thousands of people would have woken up this morning with full of anticipation at one of the biggest events in the musical year – the announcement of the Glastonbury Festival line-up.

Every year the organisers of Britain’s biggest music festival unveil the artists who will entertain as many as 200,000 people at Worthy Farm in Somerset, as well as millions watching on the TV.

While some fans have slammed this year’s line-up as ’embarrassing’ and admitted they don’t recognise some of the top names being billed, that hasn’t always been the case.

Some truly iconic acts have performed in what is a field in the West Country for most of the year, including the likes of Elton John, Arctic Monkeys, Paul McCartney and David Bowie.

To mark the announcement of this year’s acts, MailOnline has trawled through the archives to find posters from every single edition of Glastonbury.

2024

This year’s headliners were announced this morning as being British pop sensation Dua Lipa, rockers Coldplay and American R&B star SZA, while country legend Shania Twain will take the legendary Sunday slot.

Some fans were left disappointed by the line-up, especially after rumours were flying around that Madonna was set to make a long awaited appearance at the festival.

However, there are other big names set to turn up in her absence, including LCD Soundsystem, PJ Harvey, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Kiwanuka, as well as Brit-winning rapper Little Simz and K-pop band Seventeen.

2023

In one of most eagerly anticipated developments in recent Glastonbury history, Elton John was announced as the Sunday headliner in 2023 in what would turn out to be his final performance on UK soil.

He was joined at the top of the bill by Sheffield rockers Arctic Monkeys who were making their third appearance at the festival, as well as American rock ban Guns N’ Roses.

2022

The first Glastonbury festival held after the Covid pandemic saw a true culture clash as two of America’s top acts competed with British music royalty for top billing.

Billie Eilish headlined the Pyramid Stage at just 20 years old after a meteoric rise to fame with her distinctive brand of pop, while her compatriot Kendrick Lamar brought his style of West Coast rap to sleepy Somerset on the Sunday.

But the pair were still upstaged by the effervescent Paul McCartney, who  spent hours entertaining the crowd on Saturday night with classics and newer material alike – as well as special appearances from Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen. 

2020

Before Covid put paid to two years of Glastonbury in a row, 2020 looked set to be one of the best line-ups so far.

The legendary Paul McCartney and American rapper Kendrick Lamar were both slated to headline, but they would have to wait two years for their chance as the festival took an enforced break until 2022.

But the biggest missed opportunity was a potentially iconic headline performance by Taylor Swift, who was down to perform on the Pyramid Stage. 

Sadly the pandemic put an end to that as the event was cancelled, and the world’s biggest pop star has not been pencilled in to return so far. 

2019

The last Glastonbury Festival before Covid, 2019 saw history made as London rapper Stormzy became the first black male solo artist to headline Britain’s biggest music festival.

He was joined by Las Vegas rockers The Killers, who delighted the crowd with their Brit-inspired tunes, including Mr Brightside, on Saturday night. 

British rock band The Cure headline the Pyramid Stage on the Sunday, while Kylie Minogue stunned everyone with an enchanting performance in the legend’s slot.

2017

Two years later than planned Foo Fighters tore the stage down with a barnstorming performance on the Pyramid Stage in 2017, after their mooted appearance in 2015 was curtailed by an injury to lead singer Dave Grohl.

The Washington band were bookended by British rockers Radiohead and Ed Sheeran who headlined on his very first appearance at Worthy Farm.

Meanwhile there were tears aplenty when Barry Gibb, amazed the crowd with 15 legendary songs from the Bee Gees catalogue including romantic ballads and disco hits alike.

2016

During their 20-year career Muse have appeared at Glastonbury five times, with their most recent performance taking place in 2016, where they headlined on Friday night.

They were joined by some of the biggest names in British music that weekend, as Adele and Coldplay also headlined the Pyramid Stage.

This year’s edition of the festival went down in infamy as being one of the muddiest in ever, as torrential rain turned the farm into a boggy swamp.

2015

The surprise announcement of Lionel Richie as Sunday teatime legend helped sell the festival out in its 45th year.

The Foo Fighters were due to headline the festival but Dave Grohl broke his hleg and Florence And The Machine deputised.

The self-proclaimed ‘greatest rock star on the planet’ Kanye West was among the headliners.

2014

2014 was the year of four headliners: Arcade Fire, Metallica, Kasabian and of course, Dolly Parton, in her first ever appearance at the festival.

It was also a year of record breaking both in front of and behind the scenes. 

It saw record ticket sell out in October 2013. 

A production record for Pyramid changeover, taking in Friday’s Arcade Fire lighting spectacular, Metallica’s Saturday mighty sub bass and Sunday’s anthemic close out from returning heroes Kasabian. 

And another record set by the BBC’s viewing and listening figures, both at home and abroad. 

2013

The Rolling Stones had their first ever appearance at Glastonbury Festival and it was also the year of the Arctic Monkeys, played an exclusive UK set on the Friday night featuring their new album.

Mumford & Sons played to a huge crowd, just four years after starting their career playing to an audience of 50 at the Greenpeace Airport Lounge. By the end of 2013 their set closer, a rendition of the Beatles’ ‘A Little Help From My Friends’, became the only music video to make the YouTube year end Top Ten. 

Festival goers also got to witness the incredible flame spewing Phoenix, that sat on top of the Pyramid stage; a contraption designed by artist Joe Rush from the Mutoid Waste Company.

2011

As 2012 would be a fallow year, tickets for this years festival sold out on the first day.

Friday night’s headline Pyramid performance by U2, was almost ruin by the rain but  Bono and his band tore through a powerful, career-spanning set, the barrage of crowd-pleasers drowned-out the weather instead. 

Beyoncé also graced the stage to thousands of adoring fans as the headliner for the Pyramid. 

2010

Glastonbury celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2010. Visually, the anniversary was recognised by two giant dates on either side of the Pyramid stage and a Hollywood-style display of letters that spelled out ‘Glastonbury 40’.

Two new areas were created in the late night corner of the festival – The Common and the Unfair Ground. 

Gorillaz filled the Friday night Pyramid headline slot with grooves and guests, following U2’s enforced cancellation and headliner Stevie Wonder, brought things to a close on Sunday night.

2009

Lily Allen, Dizzee Rascal, Florence And The Machine, The Boss, Tom Jones and Tony Christie were among the highlights this year.

But it was hard to top a reunited Blur’s return to Glastonbury. Hailed as the best Pyramid set in an age. 

The Fire Tusk Pain Proof Circus brought the classic thrill-seekers’ circus show into the 21st century with awe-inspiring extreme stunts. 

2008

After two years of mud and rain, Glastonbury 2008 bounced back with a weekend of fine weather, and this fear is also probably why for the first time in many years, the tickets didn’t sell out immediately.

This was a year of pre-Festival hoo-ha about the inclusion of rap megastar Jay-Z as Saturday night’s headline act, the suggestion being that rap had no place at Glastonbury.

Jay-Z disproved this with enormous style and some wit, delivering a storming show. The Kings of Leon headlined on the Friday night and Sunday night’s saw a Verve reunion sent shivers down the spine. Amy Winehouse was also a top artist. 

2007

This year saw the introduction of Emily Eavis’s Park Stage, bringing a whole new section of the Festival site to life. 

The Arctic Monkeys played their first Glastonbury set headlining the Pyramid Stage on the Friday night and The Who pulled out all the stops as the closing band on Sunday. 

2005

This year saw two months worth of rain in just a few hours leaving many festival goers swamped. 

Michael Eavis made a very rare appearance on the Pyramid Stage with Bob Geldof.

Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid worked together declaring ‘…this year, let’s make poverty history and clean energy our future…’ A remarkable £1,350,000 was paid to charities and good causes. 

Top acts were Basement Jaxx, White Stripes, Magic Numbers, Coldplay and The Belly Dance Superstars 

2004

Leading the way in 2004 was Paul McCartney, Muse and Oasis to the screams of the 150,000 people in attendance. 

A massive demand for tickets ahead of the sale, frustrated many who did not get one. 

This was also the year of The Tower – a massive 70 ft tall moving structure erected adjacent to Leftfield to celebrate working together. 

2003

Tickets sold out in under 24 hours making this year the fastest selling Glastonbury Festival. 

It was also widely acclaimed as ‘the best yet’ – ‘the weather was perfect, atmosphere chilled, Pilton was crime free and the line up brilliant’. 

Fan favourites were Love with Arthur Lee, Damien Rice, De la Soul and Flaming Lips. 

2002

This was the last time the tickets were below £100, costing only £97 for the whole weekend. 

It was also the first year that the festival ramped up security with the ring of steel fence repelling all non ticket holders.

Acts included, Stereophonics, Coldplay, Manu Chao, Kosheen, Mis-teeq, Fatboy Slim, Roger Waters and Rod Stewart. 

There was even a silver service restaurant and ballroom dancing in the Green Fields.

2000

This year saw the return of the pyramid stage (the third pyramid stage) – 100 feet high and clad in dazzling silver. 

Once again Greenpeace, Oxfam and Water Aid were the major beneficiaries. 

The site managed to remain standing despite a huge influx of gatecrashers, meaning predicted numbers for the weekend were much higher than the 100,000 licensed. 

Acts included Chemical Brothers, Moby, Travis, Morcheeba, Basement Jaxx and David Bowie. 

1999

This year £150,000 was spent on downpour precautions, for the whole weekend to then end up being sunny. 

The widest range of entertainment ever was on offer, with over 300 bands, a kaleidoscope of theatre, comedy and cultural adventures, and more than 250 food stalls. 

 The lead performers were REM, Manic Street Preachers, Fatboy Slim, Hole, Blondie, Al Green and Skunk Anansie.

Following the sad news of the death of Michael Eavis’ wife Jean, a winged wicker sculpture was ceremonially burned in her honour and fireworks were let off. 

1998

Capacity reached over 100,000 in 1998 with performances from Blur, Robbie Williams and Bob Dylan. 

The festival featured over 1,000 performances across 17 stages, including the introduction of a new marquee for up-and-coming bands.

1997

Torrential rain just before the weekend resulted in this being the ‘Year of the Mud’, but music fans were undeterred once The Prodigy, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Ray Davies and Sting started to play. 

This year’s highlights included a ‘dubhenge’ made from upended VW beetles and campervans and the first ever Greenpeace field with a reconstructed Rainbow Warrior and solar heated showers. 

1995

The 25th anniversary of the first Festival was celebrated and saw the return of the two performers from the first event – Keith Christmas and Al Stewart.

The Stone Roses were meant to headline but were forced to pull out the week before the event to be replaced by Pulp. 

1994

A landmark year for Glastonbury as Channel 4 provided the first live television coverage of the festival. 

It went ahead despite the fact that 11 days before opening the famous Pyramid stage burnt down in the early hours of the morning but luckily a replacement was provided by the local company. 

On the Saturday night there was a shooting incident involving five people but no one was badly injured. However this year was the first death in the Festivals history when a young man was found dead from a drugs overdose. 

Bjork, Manic St Preachers and Orbital were the lead artists in 1994.

1993

In 1993 Robert Plant, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Suede and The Velvet Underground all performed. 

80,000 tickets were sold for £58 and more than £250,000 was raised for Greenpeace, Oxfam and many local charities.

1992

This was the first year that the donations from the profits of the Festival were made to Greenpeace and Oxfam.

Michael Eavis felt that as the Cold War had come to an end, people’s concerns had shifted away from the possibility of nuclear war to the concerns of the environment. 

As well as watching Carter USM, Shakespear’s Sister, Primal Scream and P J Harvey, festival goers saw Tom Jones who was the surprise guest this year. 

1990

The 20th anniversary and a name change to the Glastonbury Festival for Contemporary Performing Arts for the first time, to reflect the diversity of attractions within the Festival. 

However things went awry after a confrontation between the security teams and travellers who were looting the emptying festival site. It resulted in 235 arrests and £50,000 worth of damage to property and hired plant. 

1990 was also the first year that a professional car parking team was employed to encourage the best use of space for music fans seeing The Cure, Happy Mondays, Sinead O’Connor and World Party.

1989

Headlining was The Wonderstuff, Elvis Costello, Van Morrison, Pixies and Suzanne Vega who appeared despite a prior death threat. 

Again there were once again complications with the local council over the granting of the Festival licence. 65,000 attended, with ticket just £28. 

And for the first time the Police were bought into the organisation and planning of the Festival.

1987

The local council had tried to block the festival from going ahead this year, and only in May was the decision to refuse to grant them a license overturned in court. 

Elvis Costello, Robert Cray, New Order, Paul Brady, Michelle Shocked and Van Morrison all played. 

And the Womad  stage was introduced to accomodate more fans. 

1986

The first Classical music tent was introduced and the event had to increase the size of its operations to match its increase in popularity, with additions to the farm office, communications, welfare and medical teams.

The Cure, Madness, Simply Red, The Housemartins, The Waterboys, Pogues and Level 42 all performed to 60,000 people in attendance, with tickets just £17.

 1985

By 1985 Worthy farm was considered too small to accommodate the Festival so the neighbouring Cockmill farm land was purchased to enlarge the site by a further 100 acres. 

Echo & The Bunnymen, Aswad, Joe Cocker, Style Council and The Boomtown Rats all performed. 

1984

A tough year for Glastonbury as in January 1984 Michael Eavis successfully defended 5 prosecutions bought against him by Mendip District Council alleging contravention of the previous year’s licence conditions. 

All five charges were dismissed.

The licence numbers were set at 35,000 and for the first time specific car parking areas were designated with stewards employed to direct the traffic. 

Messages were also broadcast on the radio to tell people not to turn up unless they had bought a ticket, this is probably because of the stellar line up of The Smiths, Elvis Costello and Ian Dury meaning the popular of the festival was rising. 

1983

1983 saw the first ever use of the festival’s own radio station, Radio Avalon. 

The attendance this year reached 30,000 and saw the likes of UB40, Curtis Mayfield and Marillion perform. 

1983 also called for a licence to be obtained for the event since the introduction of the local Government Act became law, giving local authorities the power to regulate such events by stipulating the conditions. 

1982

With tickets just £8, 25,000 people attended. However the weather was shocking with the highest rainfall for a single day in 45 years recorded on the Friday.

Van Morrison, Judie Tzuke, Jackson Browne, Roy Harper, Richie Havens all played. 

U2 were meant to play (as you can see on the line-up poster), but didn’t actually perform in the end. 

1981

The event was rebranded as the Glastonbury CND Festival with the Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament’s logo appearing on the poster for the first time, as 18,000 attended.

African tribal dancers, clowns and puppets populated the children’s area and big names on the big included Aswad, Hawkwind, New Order and punk poet John Cooper Clarke.

1979

Despite a massive crowd of 12,000 festivalgoerss, the event made a loss and so did not happen the following year in 1980.

Highlights on the bill included Peter Gabriel and the Alex Harvey Band, as the renamed ‘Glastonbury Fayre’ themed itself ‘the year of the child’ and laid on entertainment for the little ones.

1978

No poster 

Again no poster as there wasn’t even supposed to be a festival this year. But travellers who had been visiting Stonehenge arrived in the mistaken belief that a music event was going on – so a free mini-festival was improvised with an electricity meter in a caravan providing power for the main stage. 

1971

No poster 

The festival was called ‘Glastonbury Flair’ and David Bowie performed – but no posters appear to have survived.

This was the first time that a pyramid-shaped stage was used.

1970 

The very first year of Glastonbury almost pulled off one of the greatest booking coups imaginable after Michael Eavis convinced The Kinks to perform.

However, the band would later pull out after learning the true size of the festival, which sold just 1,500 tickets and saw attendees get free milk from the farm.

It would be a decision they would rue, but not one that would hold organisers back as they drafted in rockers Tyrannosaurus Rex (later known as T. Rex) to replace them at short notice.