Coldplay first headlined the Glastonbury Festival in 2002, when they topped the Pyramid Stage lineup. The appearance came only a few years after the band’s formation and during the period when Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head were establishing them as major British rock artists.
The 2002 festival was Glastonbury’s return after a fallow year in 2001. Organisers introduced major security changes, including a large perimeter fence known as the “superfence,” after severe overcrowding and gate-crashing problems at the 2000 event. Coldplay were scheduled to play after The Strokes withdrew, and their Pyramid Stage performance became their first headline slot at the festival.
The year’s other principal Pyramid Stage headliners included Stereophonics and Rod Stewart. Coldplay would return to headline repeatedly, including in 2005 and 2011, which can cause confusion when recalling their Glastonbury history. By 2011, the band had become one of the festival’s most established headline acts, but 2002 remains the answer for their first time in that position.