Sir Elton John’s headline set at Glastonbury was the most-watched in history, the BBC has revealed.
On Sunday night, Sir Elton closed the show on the Pyramid Stage in what had previously been billed as his last ever UK show.
The following day, the BBC confirmed that an average of 7.3 million people (and peak of 7.6 million) had tuned in to watch live on BBC One. This marked marking the the biggest overnight audience for a Glastonbury set since the BBC began broadcasting the festival in the mid-90s.
Lorna Clarke, the BBC’s director of music, enthused: “What an incredible way to end this year’s Glastonbury festival! Elton John’s set will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the most epic performances ever to light up the Pyramid Stage and was watched by a record 7.6 million people on BBC One.
“I’m so delighted the BBC and our superb teams were able to share every bit of the magic from Worthy Farm during the weekend with audiences at home.”
Sir Elton’s two-hour set included almost all of his signature hits, from Bennie And The Jets, Your Song and Candle In The Wind to I’m Still Standing and, of course, Rocket Man.
It also included four guest appearances from fellow musicians, with the legendary singer and pianist also taking an opportunity to honour George Michael on what would have been his late former collaborator’s 60th birthday.
An average of 1.5 million tuned in for the Arctic Monkeys’ headline slot on Friday evening, while Guns N’ Roses attracted around one million viewers on average the following evening.
Meanwhile, Lewis Capaldi and Lizzo may not have received headline status, but they each pulled in an average of 2.3 million viewers during their respective sets on Saturday.