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Lorde kicks off Glastonbury 2025 with surprise set

Lorde celebrated the release of her new album Virgin on Friday by opening this year's Glastonbury festival with a surprise set.

The Royals singer, who was widely rumoured to be one of the festival's secret performers, officially opened the iconic British festival by taking to the stage inside the Woodsies tent at 11.30am on Friday morning.

The New Zealand-born star performed her new album, Virgin, in full, before closing out her set with her 2013 single Ribs and her 2017 smash hit Green Light.

"I decided to play the whole record front to back," she told the crowd. "This record took me a lot - I didn't know if I would make another record to be honest, but I am back (and) completely free."

While Lorde was not officially announced on the line-up, it was something of an open secret that she would perform on the same day as her album release.

When asked about the speculation earlier this month, she said on BBC Radio 2 that she was "pretty keen" to return to the festival and added, "We'll see if I can pull some strings and get there."

The 28-year-old teased her performance on Thursday by posting an aerial photo of the Woodsies tent on her Instagram Stories without comment. She later shared an update that read, "11:30AM BST."

As a result, fans flocked to the Woodsies tent, leading officials to shut off further access to the area due to overcrowding.

Lorde previously performed on the Pyramid Stage in 2022.

At one point, she was rumoured to be the "TBA" guest on the main stage on Friday afternoon, however, this is now widely expected to be Lewis Capaldi. He released his comeback single, Survive, on Friday.

Glastonbury festival runs until Sunday, with headliners including Olivia Rodrigo, The 1975 and Neil Young.

Photo: Cover Media
Source: Cover Media
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