Glastonbury has just ended and of course founder and organizer Michael Eavis is already leading us on about who'll be playing next year. He dropped some hints at the annual Sunday morning press conference that allow us to limit the field down quite a bit, but not enough to guarantee anything. One thing's for sure: It still isn't Prince, yet.
"We had an agent yesterday on the platform by the stage watching Metallica with me, saying, 'My band want to do it next year,'" Eavis said. "I can't tell you who it was but that was done on the platform watching Metallica. It it a British artist? He's definitely British, but the band are not British any more."
Music Times has put our thinking caps on and picked out a few performers that are prime for a headlining role at Britain's biggest stage.
PAUL MCCARTNEY
Eavis's tone suggested that at one point, the unnamed headliner had a British band (maybe you've heard of The Beatles?). The world's biggest bassist nearly qualifies for the "not British anymore" comment as well, or at least enough to justify it. Keyboardist Paul Wickens is a Brit, but the rest of McCartney's touring group consists of native Californians: drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr., plus guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray. Plus, Glastonbury booked The Rolling Stones for 2013, so you know he'd love to get a representative from the foremost British act of all time. Although Mcartney already played the festival during 2004, it's still an accomplishment to book the icon.
DAVID BOWIE
Our logic for Bowie falls much in line with that of McCartney (although his touring band was largely East Coast, from New York). It's tough to gauge what his band would be as he hasn't done a proper tour since 2004...nor many gigs at all since then. However, there's a huge bidding war among concert promoters to land the performer's first gig (Live Nation has reportedly offered a "multi-million" pound deal for a potential show in Olympic Park, London). Whether Glastonbury is willing to cough up that much for Bowie to perform his first comeback gig is debatable, but we're sure Eavis would love to host the Thin White Duke a third time.
ERIC CLAPTON
Clapton's in the same boat as McCartney...a British legend with a touring band largely made up of Americans. Slowhand recently revealed in an interview with Rolling Stone that he plans to stick to his oath to stop touring post his 70th birthday. The guitarist will technically have turned 70 in March, but we can see him sticking around for one more gig. What hurts his status on this list is that he's left himself open to play one-offs, as he complained mainly about the travel aspect in his complaints against touring. So he could theoretically stop by England's several huge festivals whenever he wanted. Lord knows they'd be happy to have him. One thing not to expect: a Cream reunion.
OZZY OSBOURNE
Obviously Glastonbury fans made their feelings on metal known when they loudly complained about Metallica being invited to headline this year, but we're sure Black Sabbath would be more warmly embraced thanks to its national roots. However, we'd be talking about Ozzy solo. Indeed, the vocalist seems to be gearing up for solo shows, as he'll be playing a gig at Seoul's World Cup Stadium in August. He, like McCartney, has an English keyboardist but the rest of his most recent touring band has been a smorgasbord. It also seems logical that if the agent for any act was checking out Metallica's set ringside, it would be Osbourne's.
THE WHO
Stick with us for this one, because it seems to fly in the face of all the hints Eavis offered. First of all, there are still two original (and British) members in the band: Pete Townshend and Roger Daltry. Plus, several of the members of the touring band are legit-Brit as well. But think about...does Eavis really want us to figure out who next year's headliner is this far in advance? All the more reason to be tricky with his language. Plus, The Who will be starting what many believe is its farewell tour this year in the UK. Why not return for one more big show in your homeland at its biggest music festival?
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