Glastonbury bosses ‘face crisis after talks with potential headliner Stevie Wonder collapsed after weeks of courtship’

Glastonbury is reportedly in crisis after talks with another potential headliner collapsed: megastar Stevie Wonder.

The legendary musician, 73, who last appeared at the festival in 2010, was given the Sunday night headline slot by festival organizer Emily Eavis, with the star even included in a concept line-up poster.

However, it has been reported by The sun that negotiations between the festival and the Is’t She Lovely singer’s team failed due to conflicting schedules.

Stevie is busy arranging dates for the summer shows, which meant he couldn’t commit to Sunday.

It is the third disappointment for Glastonbury after talks with Madonna and Stevie Nicks also reportedly collapsed, leaving a gaping hole in the major festival’s line-up.

The legendary musician, 73, who last appeared at the festival in 2010, was given the Sunday night headline slot by festival organizer Emily Eavis.

Regarding the failed negotiations with Stevie, a source told the publication: “The mood behind the scenes is fraught, to say the least. Emily is desperate for a new top line-up, but right now she’s facing problems everywhere she goes.”

The source added that Emily is working hard to win over the music fan and while she remains hopeful that Stevie’s team can win over, “things aren’t looking good.”

Coldplay and Dua Lipa are rumored to be taking to the stage at Worthy Farm in Somerset – as headliners on Friday and Saturday at the festival from June 26 to 30.

Before talks with Stevie fell through, a source said The sun: ‘Stevie’s team has been working on a big tour and Glastonbury is something they want to make happen.

‘He last performed there in 2010, when it was Glastonbury’s 40th anniversary and the American soul legend’s set was storming. Organizers Michael Eavis and his daughter Emily are keen to have him back on the farm and they will move heaven and earth to get Stevie on the line-up.

‘Stevie’s team is now working on his dates and hopefully things will get better in the coming days.’

It comes after sPrevious investigations revealed that talks with Madonna collapsed after organizers refused to pay the fee to bring her live show to the festival.

A Glastonbury source told The Mail on Sunday at the time: ‘To be honest it’s been a real blow not being able to do a deal with Madonna.

Regarding the failed negotiations with Stevie, a source told the publication: ‘The mood behind the scenes is fraught to say the least’

It comes after sources previously revealed that talks with Madonna collapsed after organizers refused to pay the fee to bring her live show to the festival (Madonna is performing on the first night of her ‘Celebration Tour’ at London’s O2 Arena)

‘Emily really wanted her to play the Legend slot. After seeing Madonna’s London tour in October, she raved about it on Instagram, something she rarely does without Glastonbury in mind.

‘But everyone knows that after last year, and the criticism of the gender balance, we need big names in the line-up. Dua Lipa is a real catch. Now we need one more.

‘There is still some hope that it will come back to life, but that is quite unlikely. There are financial problems underlying this, it’s a real shame.’

Bosses then tried to get Fleetwood Mac icon Stevie Nicks on board, but she subsequently signed for the BST festival in London’s Hyde Park.

Coldplay would be in the running to headline on Saturday. They have headlined four times before: in 2002, 2005, 2011 and 2016.

Glastonbury bosses have been accused of choosing too many male acts as headliners. Last year’s lineup was all male, with Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Sir Elton John taking the top spots.

British singing sensation Dua is said to be in line for Friday’s top act, although the official line-up has not yet been confirmed.

Earlier this year, Dua was embroiled in controversy after failing to join Sir Elton John on the Glastonbury stage for their duet Cold Heart.

If he agrees, Stevie will join rumored Coldplay and Dua Lipa (pictured) as the three headliners at the June 26-30 festival.

Fans claimed there was a falling out between the two, although Dua insisted she was just working in New York.

Emily previously said about the lack of female headliners: ‘I’ve always been very passionate about gender differences [on festival line-ups] and I think our problem really was that I had been so outspoken about it that a year of no women kind of pissed people off – or some people.

“And we had a female – she pulled out and we replaced them with Guns N’ Roses. But everyone knows it’s at the top of my list.

‘It’s difficult with female artists because there aren’t enough headliners. But we also create them. We put the bands and female artists on smaller stages and let them come through all the time. And who knows? Next year we might get two. And I can definitely say that the Legend is female.”

Last year partygoers enjoyed the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Elton John, who played his last ever gig in Britain at the Pyramid stag to close the 2023 edition of the festival.

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