Glastonbury typically offers small checks to stars, but the worthwhile Farm festival offers much more than just a pay check. However, the festival promises to bring in a lot of exposure and a hefty fee for one star.
Charli XCX pocketed a jaw-dropping £900,000 for her explosive and divisive Glastonbury set, making her the festival’s highest-paid performer ever.
The Essex-born pop star brought her Brat era to Worthy Farm on Saturday night, headlining The Other Stage and drawing such a huge crowd security had to shut entry to the field. Fans packed in to hear her party anthems, but her performance sparked fierce debate online, with many slamming her for “overusing” auto-tune.
One TikTok user wrote, “Lip syncing to a backing track with auto tune… sad to see this sh*te at Glasto.”
Charli was retaliating with a cheeky clapback, “Baby! Lip sync with autotune is not possible! Give that a second a thought.
She later expressed regret on X (previously Twitter) by saying, “Really enjoying these boomer-like comments on my Glastonbury performance. I find it to be extremely fascinating.
The most boring take ever is the idea that singing in deliberate autotune makes you a fraud or that not having a traditional band suddenly means you must not be a “real artist.” I’m sorry, but I just slept through it.
“But to be honest, I enjoy the conversation,” she continued. The best art frequently develops into a truly interesting culture rather than just being “ok,” “understood,” and “somewhat forgettable.” It is divisive and confrontational.
The pop princess has a long history of self-awareness, and she has never made it public, even admitting that she feels “lost” performing without it now.
She admitted last year on The Tape Notes podcast that she had always been able to sing in tune, but she’s since realized that she’s become so lazy because I sing in auto-tune all the time.
Her staggering payday caused shock because it was higher than the previous headline costs. For his 2023 Pyramid Stage set, Sir Paul McCartney and Coldplay reportedly made an estimated £250, 000. Charli was undoubtedly the only person who had consistently argued they couldn’t ever pay more than £500k for a headliner.
Meanwhile, Sir Rod Stewart reportedly performed at a loss this year despite receiving less than £300,000 from his set for his coveted Legends Slot on Sunday.
Charli’s contentious but triumphant Brat era has made her a more well-known celebrity. For her hit Von Dutch, the culturally influential album won her three Grammys earlier this year: Best Dance/Electronic Album, Best Recording Package, and Best Dance Pop Recording.
While Charli was one of the few acts to receive a respectable salary, many Glasto performers were simply given free weekend tickets, some were still left disappointed that she didn’t as it was claimed. However, many people called her performance one of the best of the weekend and demanded that she take the Pyramid Stage the following time.
Fans loved everything about her performance, judging by Saturday’s packed-out field, and the singer continues to face a wave of ‘boomer’ backlash online over her style and sound.
