Which band famously headlined Glastonbury in 1997?

Radiohead famously headlined Glastonbury in 1997. Their Saturday-night performance on the Pyramid Stage became one of the festival’s most celebrated headline sets and is frequently remembered as a defining moment in the band’s live history.

The 1997 festival returned after a fallow year in 1996 and was held at Worthy Farm in exceptionally difficult conditions. Heavy rain turned the site into a muddy bog, creating the famously mud-soaked atmosphere associated with that edition. Despite the weather, Radiohead’s performance received widespread acclaim.

The band were promoting OK Computer, their landmark third studio album released in May 1997. Songs such as “Paranoid Android” represented the album’s ambitious, tense sound and translated powerfully to a huge festival audience. A live recording of “Paranoid Android” from the performance was later included on the BBC compilation Mud For It.

The other 1997 Pyramid Stage headliners were The Prodigy and The Smashing Pumpkins. Radiohead returned to headline Glastonbury again in 2003 and 2017.