Rod Stewart Rocks Glastonbury Festival with Huge Crowd and BBC Viewers' Reactions

Rock legend Rod Stewart attracted massive crowds at the Pyramid Stage as fans gathered to watch the musician's performance at the Glastonbury Festival. The 80-year-old occupied the coveted Sunday afternoon Legends slot, delivering a medley of his classic hits to an enthusiastic audience who seemed to move and sway with every tune.

Footage from the BBC iPlayer livestream showcased the magnitude of the crowd, with spectators completely occupying the field in front of the Pyramid Stage. In scenes reminiscent of Elton John's jam-packed set in 2023, festival-goers were eager to see the rockstar perform - though viewers tuning in from home appeared to be more critical of the performer.

One viewer said: \"He has some absolute bangers in his back catalogue, but Rod Stewart can’t sing for s**t can’t he?\" Another said he was a \"great performer,\" while someone else said: \"Sir Rod Stewart don't take this the wrong way. But it's time to throw the towel in.\"

\"Sir Rod Stewart is an absolute legend and his backing singers look amazing,\" a fourth person commented. \"But like so many artists who reach 80+ he no longer has ‘it’ vocally.\"

\"Rod Stewart is a proper Glastonbury act. How he isn’t headlining tonight I’ll never know,\" someone else added. This year's festival was headed up by The 1975 on Friday, Neil Young on Saturday and Olivia Rodrigo is set play on the Pyramid Stage tonight.

Others praised the star. One said: \"Like him or loath him. Kicking Glasto at 80 years young. Bringing some much-needed fun and smiles to UK.\" Another added: \"Now THAT’s a rock star. Today’s manufactured mannequins pales into insignificance by comparison. Sir Rod Stewart reminding everyone what the word legend actually means. Incredible band too.\" A third said: \"Rod Stewart is still a great live act at 80yrs of age. Crowd are loving it too. This is more like what they should have had on last night instead of Neil Young!

The rock singer sparked controversy yesterday after backing Reform UK in saying Brits should \"give Nigel Farage a chance\".

\"I've read about (Sir Keir) Starmer cutting off the fishing in Scotland and giving it back to the EU. That hasn't made him popular,\" he told The Times.

\"We're fed up with the Tories. We've got to give Farage a chance. He's coming across well. Nigel? What options have we got?

\"Starmer's all about getting us out of Brexit and I don't know how he's going to do that. Still, the country will survive. It could be worse. We could be in the Gaza Strip.\"

Admitting his wealth ensures \"a lot of it doesn't really touch me\", Rod insisted he is not out of touch and expressed his support for Ukraine – criticising US President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance for their treatment of Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky on his visit to the White House – and Gaza.

During his set, the rocker said there had been \"a lot of talk about the Middle East lately,\" before dedicating a song to Ukraine.