Glastonbury 2022 secret headliners: How to get in the know

Megan Graye
·3 min read

Harry Styles, Green Day and Elton John are amongst the rumoured acts set to perform secret sets at Glastonbury.

With just a few days to go before the festival’s rescheduled 50th anniversary, speculation has started about who might be filling the missing lineup slots.

The 2022 schedule already includes huge names like Paul McCartney, Billie Eilish and Diana Ross, but there are still a few spaces left for some surprise performances.

Past secret sets have seen the likes of Lady Gaga, Franz Ferdinand and Pulp perform.

Aside from word of mouth, news of who the TBA performers are has been known to travel via Twitter account @Secretglasto, which claims to notify followers of suspected performances a few hours before they start.

The account, which has over 37,000 followers at the time of writing, has previously been correct on past Glastonbury surprises such as The Killers (2017), The Libertines (2015) and Glass Animals (2017).

The Libertines at Glastonbury Festival, 2015 (Shutterstock)
The Libertines at Glastonbury Festival, 2015 (Shutterstock)

Who are the most rumoured acts for 2022?

It is thought that US band Green Day might be playing. The band have never played the festival before but previously performed a secret set at Reading Festival in 2012.

The rock band of “American Idiot” fame are currently touring the UK but have a gap in their dates on the Sunday (26 June) of Glastonbury, leaving fans to speculate about a possible performance.

Further fuel has been added to the fire due to the fact that the tour’s support band Amyl and the Sniffers are playing the John Peel stage on Sunday (26 June), exactly where Green Day have their gap.

Elton John was a rumoured name, too, with gaps in his tour dates back in 2019 before the festival was cancelled for two years running due to the pandemic.

Harry Styles (Ian West/PA) (PA Wire)
Harry Styles (Ian West/PA) (PA Wire)

With the artist currently touring the UK, speculation has started again over whether the Rocket Man could be doing a surprise performance at Worthy Farm.

Currently, John has a space between shows on the Saturday of the festival (25 June) after performing on the Friday (24 June) at London’s BST Hyde Park series.

Harry Styles is also being mentioned in speculative conversations about secret sets, with fans believing he could be performing at the missing John Peel slot.

Originally a rumoured headliner, Styles was not listed on the confirmed lineup. He does, however, still have the majority of the weekend free in between tour dates.

With a Dublin show on Wednesday (22 June) and a Hamburg show in Germany on the Sunday (26 June), fans think he could be surprising festival goers.

How to get in the know

Once the festival starts, rumours as to who are playing the secret sets become even more prominent, with word of mouth from festival workers circulating gossip.

If you want even more of a chance to get in on the surprise, this Twitter account claims to get wind of sets a few hours before they happen.

All of the unannounced set times across Glastonbury 2022 (via Somerset Live) 

  • John Peel Stage, 2pm-3pm on Sunday

  • The Park Stage, 6.15pm-7.15pm on Sunday

  • Glade Stage, 0.10am-1.30am on Monday

  • Arcadia, 11pm on Friday - 1am on Saturday

  • William’s Green, 7.45pm-8.25pm on Thursday

  • William’s Green, 9pm-10pm on Thursday

  • BBC Introducing Stage, 7.55pm-8.55pm on Friday

  • BBC Introducing Stage, 1pm-1.30pm on Saturday

  • BBC Introducing Stage, 7.15pm-7.45pm on Saturday

  • BBC Introducing Stage, 7.45pm-8.15pm on Sunday

If you’re not attending the festival, find out how to watch it live here and check out our list of the most tricky set clashes here.