The iconic Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury lit up like never before as Paul McCartney delivered a breathtaking performance, featuring a remarkable virtual duet with John Lennon.

The crowd erupted into cheers, many visibly moved to tears, as the connection between the two Beatles felt almost tangible. Just when the audience thought they had witnessed the pinnacle of the night, Bruce Springsteen stormed the stage for a surprise appearance, joining McCartney in an electrifying rendition of “Glory Days.” The energy was infectious, with thousands singing and dancing under the starlit sky. It was a night of pure musical magic, seamlessly blending nostalgia, innovation, and the camaraderie of rock legends, leaving the audience in awe and yearning for more.

Paul McCartney performed an emotional virtual duet with John Lennon during last night’s Glastonbury headline set (June 25).

Sir Paul McCartney, 80, wowed fans with an epic setlist that featured over 30 songs and finished at around half past midnight.

The legendary musician performed a variety of songs from throughout his career, that included many Beatles classics, Wings hits, solo favourites and more recent numbers

He also introduced surprise guests Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen to the Pyramid Stage, much to the joy of the thousands in attendance.

The most emotional part of the evening saw Paul perform a virtual duet with his late Beatles bandmate John Lennon for ‘I’ve Got a Feeling’.

Speaking to the crowd, Sir Paul revealed that the idea came from Peter Jackson, the director of the recent documentary series Get Back.
Watch footage of the performance below:

Lennon and McCartney shared verses of the song, with Peter Jackson having isolated Lennon’s vocals.

“I’ve got a special little thing here,” he said introducing that track. “One day, Peter Jackson rings me up and says he can take John’s vocals and isolate them so that you can play live with John on tour. He said do you fancy that?”

“That’s so special for me man,” McCartney said afterwards. “I know it’s virtual but come on – it’s John. We’re back together.”

Earlier in the show, Sir Paul also paid tribute to his late Beatles bandmate George Harrison, and performed ‘Something’.

Sunday’s Glastonbury lineup will see an appearance from Diana Ross on the Legends Slot.

‘Nowhere Man’: John Lennon’s Beatles epic that Paul McCartney got completely wrong

When John Lennon wrote songs, he always wanted one pivotal factor at the heart of them: the truth. He tried to write as much honest music as possible in The Beatles; however, this came with pushback from other band members. When he became a solo artist, he made a conscious effort to make music that was a true reflection of himself.

With such an affinity for the truth within music, it’s hardly a surprise that he became such a big fan of Bob Dylan. Steve Van Zandt once attributed Bob Dylan with being the person who ended the British invasion, as people on board with The Beatles hype became equally enamoured with the folk-rock movement.

“The floodgates opened until the summer of ’65,” he said when talking about what it was like to experience the British Invasion first-hand, “When the Americans took the charts back with the folk-rock of The Byrds and Bob Dylan.”

People were drawn to Dylan’s music, though, not just because of his music but also because of the honesty with which he wrote. There were no secrets in Bob Dylan, as he explored his emotions, his place in the world, and his view of the world within the words of his songs. John Lennon was such a fan initially that members of The Beatles and fans of his have previously said their album Rubber Soul was essentially Lennon trying to make music like Bob Dylan.

Narrative has always been at the heart of folk music, so Lennon was likely searching for parts of himself that he was willing to reveal to the public at the time. In doing so, he found it difficult to write more profound music, to the point that he ended up writing a song about the fact he couldn’t write a song.

‘Nowhere Man’ was released on the album and was, by John Lennon’s admission, a song about how he didn’t feel like this album was going anywhere. “I thought of myself sitting there, doing nothing and getting nowhere,” he said.

In a separate interview, he provided more information on the writing process. “I remember I was just going through this paranoia trying to write something and nothing would come out,” he said, “So I just lay down and tried to not write and then this came out, the whole thing came out in one gulp.”

What’s most interesting about the song is that Paul McCartney completely misinterpreted what Lennon was attempting to write about. When discussing the song separately, he said he believed that Lennon was actually writing about the state of his marriage instead of his creative output.

“It was really an anti-John song. He told me later, he didn’t tell me then, he said he’d written it about himself, feeling like he wasn’t going anywhere. I think it was actually about the state of his marriage,” said McCartney, “It was in a period where he was a bit dissatisfied with what was going on; however, it led to a very good song. He treated it as a third-person song, but he was clever enough to say, ‘Isn’t he a bit like you and me?’ – ‘Me’ being the final word.”