Glastonbury hiatus to be filled by ‘huge concert honouring iconic musician’

Glastonbury hiatus to be filled by ?huge concert honouring iconic musician? picture: Getty/ metro
We might be missing Glastonbury this year but there’s a huge concert set to take it’s place (Picture: Getty/ metro)

That Glastonbury gap in our music calendar is set to be filled by a massive tribute concert to the one and only David Bowie.

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of Bowie’s death aged 69, which came just two days after he released his final album, Blackstar.

With Worthy Farm closed for a fallow year to ‘let the land rest’, plans are rumoured to be underway for a star-studded gig at London’s O2.

‘Organisers want the event to be seen as a thank you to David Bowie and a celebration of his continued influence among today’s artists,’ a source told The Mirror.

The concert would potentially donate all proceeds to Teenage Cancer Trust and music therapy charity Nordoff and Robbins.

The source continued: ‘They see this as the jewel in the crown of their summer music plans in a year without Glastonbury. They are throwing everything at it’.

David Bowie performing at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for Aids Awareness, at Wembley Stadium, Picture taken Easter Monday, 20th April 1992. (Photo by Nigel Wright/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)
The evening would bring rising stars and those influenced by Bowie together (Picture: Nigel Wright/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)

Glastonbury, which Bowie once headlined, is usually aired on the BBC with major performances across several stages broadcast live or on catch up.

The festival normally takes place in late June with breaks every few years, but hasn’t had a fallow year since lockdown.

This year has seen plenty of tributes to the Ziggy Stardust legend already, including a docuseries about his life, focusing on those final years.

Bowie’s death was announced in the early hours of 11 January, 2016, with the music icon coolly revealing he had been diagnosed with liver cancer 18 months before.

The year has stuck in pop culture memory as we lost several major stars in the months following, including Alan Rickman, Victoria Wood and Prince.

He had undergone chemotherapy in secret and recorded album Blackstar, which shot to number one after its release, remaining at the top of the charts for three weeks.

Bowie died ‘peacefully surrounded by his family’, although his daughter, Lexi Jones, recently addressed those turbulent final days.

When she saw announcement she said the wording made her feel physically sick, sharing: ‘Yes, the whole family was there. Except for me.’

Last month, the 25-year-old musician, posted a candid video how she had been taken from her family home at 14 while struggling with depression, an eating disorder, and substance misuse.

The Heroes legend and his wife, model Iman, held an intervention for Lexi as she turned to drugs after his diagnosis.

Lexi Jones (@_p0odle_) FROM: Instagram WITHOUT PERMISSION. Alexandria Zahra Jones (David Bowie's daughter)
His daughter Lexi struggled to cope with his cancer diagnosis (Picture: Alexandria Zahra Jones/Instagram)
Alexandria Zahra Jones or Lexi - daughter of David Bowie. Pictures taken from her instagram
She was in rehab when he died (Picture: Thomas McCarthy)

She recalled her father reading from a letter he had written to her before she was taken away. One line has never left her: ‘I’m sorry we have to do this.’

‘My story was never meant to place blame on my parents,’ she wrote on Instagram. ‘I love my parents deeply, and I don’t hold resentment toward them.

‘They were trying to help a child who was struggling in ways none of us fully understood at the time.’

In her video, Lexi added: ‘I had the luxury of speaking to him two days before, on his birthday, I told him I loved him and he said it back. We both knew.’

Metro has reached out to the BBC for comment.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *