Beyoncé Said Headlining at Glastonbury in 2011 Made Her Feel Like a Real Rockstar
Beyoncé rose to fame as one of the members of Destiny’s Child in the late ’90s. However, it didn’t take long for the singer to become one of the most popular solo artists in the business. In 2003, Beyoncé released her debut album, Dangerously in Love, but it wasn’t until a 2011 performance at the annual Glastonbury Festival that she admitted she felt like a real rock star.
Beyoncé has played a lot of music festivals over the years
Before her performance at Glastonbury, Beyoncé had already gained significant experience performing at popular music festivals. Throughout 2003, her early solo career included sets at several radio-hosted festivals, such as KIIS-FM Jingle Ball, z100 Jingle Ball, and WGCI-FM Big Jam. Beyoncé performed at the BBC Radio 1 The Chart Show Live in 2006.
Even in the year’s directory before her Glastonbury performance, the Houston-born singer took on Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 2007 and the Bermuda Music Festival in 2008. But none of those carried the same cache as Glastonbury, a scope Beyoncé would return to with performances at the Global Citizen Festival and Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the subsequent years.
Glastonbury made Beyoncé feel like a real rock star
In a 2011 interview on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight conducted the day after her Glastonbury said, Beyoncé opened up about what it felt like to take the stage at the festival.
As Morgan points out, the singer said she did so as the first woman to headline, an accomplishment that only added to the surreal nature of the performance:
“I’m still walking on the clouds. I’m still kind of shocked. I can’t believe what happened to me happened yesterday. And I think it’s because I’ve seen Glastonbury in photographs, and I’ve seen it when I’ve traveled here and on television. And only amazing rock stars perform. And it’s just the coolest festival. And I was able to see my husband perform there a couple of years ago. And it was one of the most exciting nights.”
Indeed, Jay-Z headlined Glastonbury in 2008. And a decade later, Beyoncé and Jay-Z co-headlined another music festival at Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 in New York.
Beyoncé praised the purity of performing at Glastonbury
While she was the first woman to headline Glastonbury, the festival also held a unique atmosphere, unlike anything Beyoncé experienced up to that point in her career. And in her interview with Morgan, she went into great detail about how it felt different than other performances:
“It’s the mud. It’s all the beautiful people. I loved it. It’s not about fashion. It’s not about trying to be cool. Everyone just is cool. That’s what I love about it. It’s not about your production. It’s not about how many hits you have.
It’s about good music and everything coming from the inside, and everyone has so much love and appreciation for a good performance. And I love when I can not have to think about all the other things that are not as interesting and I can just belt out the songs and dance from the heart and I know that it’s appreciated.”
Even in 2022, Beyoncé continues to break barriers. The singer has been making hits for decades, after all. And while she will no doubt continue to wow festival crowds for years to come, it seems Glastonbury will always hold a special place in her heart and career.
