Was Kanye West’s Glastonbury Headline A Success?
When it was announced that Kanye West would be headlining Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage on Saturday, many were fully against the rapper performing at the traditional rock venue. However, between his rendition of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” to proclaiming himself as the greatest rock star alive, Kanye West delivered one of the most noteworthy performances in the Glastonbury’s history.
Following in the footsteps of his good friend Jay-Z, Kanye West jetted off to Glastonbury, with his socialite wife Kim Kardashian, becoming the second hip hop artist to headline Glastonbury. West performed a massive 30-song set despite 130,000 people signing a petition to cancel his performance.
Kanye West’s Glastonbury set was not without its problems as his stage was invaded in the middle of his performance of “Black Skinhead.” The invader has been identified as Lee Nelson, a 38-year-old stand up comedian. Despite that, West continued until security removed the intruder.
Kanye is more used to being the stage invader than dealing with one. Lee Nelson could have told him to hand the microphone to Beyoncé.
— Rebecca Front (@RebeccaFront) June 27, 2015
Kanye I’m a let you finish…but that was the greatest stage invasion ever. #Glasto2015 #KanyeWest
— Nesta McG (@NestaMcG) June 27, 2015
Another highlight of Kanye’s Glastonbury performance was his cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” West started off his cover by playing an audio recording of Freddie Mercury’s layered vocals, which was then reverberated throughout the Glastonbury crowd who also sang along before West joined in. What could be classified as Arena Rock meeting Hip Hop, Kanye created one of the most poignant moment of the event this year.
However, his Kayne West’s Glastonbury set was not universally acclaimed.
Kanye West singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” is the same as your drunk friend singing the lines he remembers between hiccups at the local bar.
— Josh Voland (@joshvoland) June 28, 2015
Kanye west Glastonbury………… SHITE!!!!!!!!!!!! Very uncomfortable viewing! Not worthy of the stage
— Brian Mcfadden (@BrianMcFadden) June 27, 2015
The criticism was finished there, Kanye was ridiculed by many when he proclaimed that he was the greatest Rock Star alive.
Did Kanye really call himself the greatest living rock star on the planet? pic.twitter.com/Y8bChcuhkM
— Paul Whelan (@paulwhelan89) June 28, 2015
Kanye really took that ‘World’s Greatest Rock Star’ mug he got on Father’s Day to heart didn’t he.
— tom jamieson (@jamiesont) June 27, 2015
Was Kanye West’s Glastonbury performance a successful headline?
[Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images]
