Sir ’s headliner set at 2023 – an amazing spectacle in every sense of the word – amazed fans across the globe from start to finish.
However, some who were holding out hope that would show up as , convinced the popstar would be making her comeback to the stage, were left sorely disappointed.
Ahead of the , it was confirmed that the 76-year-old would be welcoming four other performers to join him.
They turned out to be Jacob Lusk from Gabriels and Community Gospel Choir, Stephen Sanchez, The Killers’ frontman Brandon Flowers and Rina Sawayama.
No sign of Britney, Dua Lipa or Rocketman star Taron Egerton, despite heavy rumours and speculation surrounding all three of them.
This revelation came as a huge surprise considering the way in which the Hit Me Baby One More Time musician had seemingly been teasing an appearance on social media.
Three days ago, Britney shared a picture on Instagram of a ‘third eye’ in a triangle shape, which many thought was an evident hint at her appearing on the Pyramid Stage.
Then a day later came a post with a still-life painting of a McDonald’s meal, with three Union Jack emojis placed in the caption.
But alas, the clues ended up not adding up to what fans thought was an obvious conclusion – Britney staging her live music comeback at Glastonbury.
The reality hit when all four of Sir Elton’s special guests had appeared (even if we were holding out hope that perhaps she was a secret fifth act).
In 2022, the Toxic singer, 41, and Sir Elton collaborated on their duet Hold Me Closer, a remake of his 1972 single Tiny Dancer.
It marked a huge milestone in Britney’s career, as it was her first release of new music since her highly-publicised and widely-criticised conservatorship came to an end.
With that in mind, some thought it was highly probable that Glastonbury 2023 could mark the superstar’s first return to stage since the end of her conservatorship.
This thought was fuelled even further when she was photographed in Mexico amid speculation that she had made her way to the UK.
As can be expected, Britney stans were devastated that she didn’t turn up, with some even saying that they felt that they’d wasted their time watching Sir Elton’s set.
(While we understand their disappointment that Britney wasn’t there, Sir Elton delivered one of the best headline sets in the history of Glastonbury, hands down).
‘Just sat through 2 hours of Elton John waiting for Britney Spears, to no avail. Sad and disappointed,’ one person tweeted.
Referencing Britney’s many videos of herself dancing at home, someone else added: ‘So Britney is doing spinnies in her front room and I’m sat waiting for her to appear with Elton.’
‘Wearing my best clown makeup watching Elton at Glasto waiting to see if Britney makes an appearance ?,’ another stated, while one person remarked: ‘Elton singing hold me closer but not with Britney. Awkward. OK bye now ?.’
One dramatic reaction read: ‘If Britney doesn’t make an appearance and I’ve wasted 2 hours of my life watching an Elton John concert…’
Meanwhile, another person brought up the fact that Britney was posting on Instagram minutes before Sir Elton’s set, uploading another video of herself dancing and another of Justin Bieber singing.
‘Britney stop posting on Instagram your on stage with Elton in 10!’ they wrote.
However, someone else tweeted on Saturday that they had a premonition that everyone’s Britney prediction was misplaced.
‘Me when Britney doesn’t perform with Elton and see all of you having meltdowns because you still haven’t learnt your lesson,’ they hypothesised.
It turned out they were right!
