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Sir Paul McCartney, 80, parties with family until 3am after epic Glastonbury headline set
The Beatle wowed the biggest crowd ever seen at the Pyramid stage with a set lasting almost three hours – but the party didn’t stop there for the 80 year old
The rocker enjoyed an intimate party backstage with his family after the set
Image: Samir Hussein/WireImage)
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Sir Paul McCartney was in no mood to Get Back home as he celebrated an “epic” Glastonbury headline slot with a backstage party for his family until 3am.
The Beatle wowed the biggest crowd ever seen at the Pyramid stage with a set lasting almost three hours. It included an emotional duet with John Lennon via video and special guest appearances from Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen.
Sources close to Sir Paul said he had been “thrilled” with the huge crowd’s response to his set, which started with a mixture of Beatles and solo tracks before ending with hit after hit from the fab four and a singalong for over 150,000 people.
His wife Nancy and daughters Stella and Mary were at the side of the stage and joined him at an intimate party backstage when his set finally finished.
Other big name guests included Hollywood star Kate Hudson, model Kate Moss, designer Tom Ford, actor Woody Harrelson and artist Peter Blake.
McCartney performed with Bruce Springsteen
Image:
( Samir Hussein/WireImage)
The music legend showed off his moves
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( paulmccartney/Instagram)
Daughter Stella posted video and photos from the show on social media and acknowledged reports on-site that it was the largest ever audience at Glastonbury.
Stella said: “Dad…you made history, the largest crowd ever at Glasto. I am so proud to be your baby. Epic, epic, epic.”
His other daughter Mary wrote: “Dad + Glastonbury = magic.”
She also described it as an “epic” performance.
McCartney dedicated the Sinatra-style ballad My Valentine to his wife Nancy Shevell, and also had nods to loved ones who couldn’t be there in the show.
He played Something on a ukulele given to him by its songwriter, George Harrison.
Dave Grohl also joined him for a surprise performance
Image:
( Getty Images)
In a poignant moment of the set, he duetted with the late John Lennon, whose vocals for I’ve Got A Feeling had been isolated from The Beatles rooftop concert in 1969.
McCartney said: “That is so special for me. I know it’s virtual, but there I am singing with John again. We’re back together.”
Sir Paul, the oldest ever headliner of the festival, treated the masses in the crowd to a selection of his own songs as well as beloved tracks by The Beatles and from his later group Wings.
He played a range of classic songs including Can’t Buy Me Love, Blackbird, Got To Get You Into My Life, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da and Get Back.
It attracted the biggest crowd ever seen at the festival
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( GETTY)
But it was the final hour that really saw the show hit the heights as tracks included Get Back, I Saw Her Standing There, Band On The Run, Hey Jude, Helter Skelter and Live And Let Die.
Whilst there were no complaints at Worthy Farm, some fans hoping to watch live on the BBC were disappointed as the show was delayed.
Despite the majority of the Glastonbury headline performances being shown live on the BBC iPlayer, Sir Paul’s show was not aired on the broadcaster’s channels until an hour after his set had started.
The BBC said it was not shown live due to the “complexity” of broadcasting an event of that scale and volume, adding in a statement that “there is sometimes variation between performances taking place and their transmission”.
However despite the gig not going out live, when it was shown on BBC1 a peak audience of 3.9 million were watching.
Sir Paul also seemed to appease those who were mainly there to hear Beatles hits. He said: “We know the songs you like, ’cause when we play a Beatles song the place lights up with phones like the galaxy. And when we play something new, it’s like a black hole. But we don’t care. We’re going to play them anyway.”
Towards the end of the show he was joined on stage by Springsteen for Glory Days and I Wanna Be Your Man.
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Source close to Sir Paul said he had been “thrilled” with the huge crowd’s response
Image:
( Samir Hussein/WireImage)
The rocker also acknowledged McCartney’s 80th birthday, which took place last week, wishing him “another glorious 80 years”.
The show was then further amplified as he introduced Grohl to the stage to sing I Saw Her Standing There and Band On The Run.
It was his first public performance since the death of his Foo Fighters bandmate, drummer Taylor Hawkins and he was given a hero’s welcome.
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“This guy flew in specially to do this,” McCartney said. “We love you.”
“I swear, I would never miss being right here with you, right now,” Grohl replied.
Grohl and Springsteen joined Sir Paul again for the final extended guitar jam to The End, the penultimate track on Abbey Road, before leaving to cheers and a place right at the top of the festival’s biggest and most memorable shows.
Previously the festival’s organiser Emily Eavis has said the audience for Dolly Parton was the biggest she had seen, with estimates of 150-180,000 people.
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