SZA responds to backlash following Glastonbury headline show beset with technical difficulties and a less than impressive crowd

A coveted spot, Glastonbury’s Sunday headliner has always been reserved for the best in international artistry. Elton John, David Bowie among other legends, have put on sensational shows in years gone by.

This year was the turn of hip-hop and R&B artist SZA. With over 71 million monthly listeners on Spotify and several platinum records, she certainly had the pedigree to take to the iconic Pyramid Stage. 

Unfortunately for SZA, she experienced technical issues during the first half of her set with the microphone cutting out and volume issues. Viewers of the BBC’s coverage were quick to point out the problems on social media.

Posts to X included: ‘Fix SZA’s mic now’; ‘so sad seeing sza get backlash about her mic not working, people not knowing of her and her crowd being small at glasto, she was so good last year too’; ‘justice for sza!! what have glastonbury done to her mic to make her vocals sound this way, this is excruciating’.

This proved to be one of many gripes Glastonbury fans had with the performance. Livestream footage showed that the crowd seemed to be smaller than that of Coldplay and Friday’s headliner Dua Lipa and many did not appreciate her performance.

Producer Stephen Street wrote on X: “Has to be one of the most boring un dynamic sets I have ever seen headline! So much auto tune on the vocal that the vowels get mangled and you can’t hear a word. Yeah, I might be male, pale and stale but I know a f*ck up when I see one.”

And another user labelled the US hitmaker’s performance a ‘dud’. 

Social media was not pretty reading for the R&B star prompting a response via Twitter saying: “The bravery required to be alive in public is remarkable. S/o everybody doing that s**t.”

Music critics were quick to berate the Worthy Farm performance too. The Sunday Times’ Will Hodgkinson wrote: “The singer’s Sunday headline slot on the Pyramid stage felt more suited to a faceless stadium than Britain’s most beloved festival.”

The 17th most listened to artist on Spotify played to 65 thousand attendees at BST Hyde Park just the day prior to little criticism. Despite her talent and global fame, for Glastonbury fanatics SZA did not live up to the high expectations of the prestigious Pyramid Stage.