Britney Spears Glastonbury: did Sir Elton John bring out singer at the music festival?

Sir Elton John treated fans to hit after hit on the Pyramid Stage as he delivered a “special and emotional” Glastonbury show. The star, 76, performed his first and last show at Worthy Farm, dressed in a gold suit for a two-hour set that included crowd pleasers such as Rocketman, Tiny Dancer, Your Song and I’m Still Standing.

The show was billed as his final UK gig before he retires from touring at the end of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour.

He also surprised the crowd with unexpected musical guests, putting paid to rumours of big names and famous collaborators.

One such singer that fans had hoped to see alongside Sir Elton was that of Britney Spears, who recorded a new version of Sir Elton’s 1971 hit song Tiny Dancer last year - but did she turn up at Glastonbury? This is everything you need to know. 

Was Britney Spears at Glastonbury?

Many fans were convinced that Spears would be appearing onstage at Glastonbury on Sunday (25 June) alongside Sir Elton thanks to a series of clues supposedly shared on her Instagram account. 

On Thursday 22 June, Spears posted a picture of an apple that appeared to be cut into the shape of the England flag, with a series of Union Jack emojis posted in the caption. The following day, Spears then posted artwork of a McDonald’s fish sandwich and chips, with the same Union Jack caption. 

Unfortunately for fans, Spears did not take to the stage at Glastonbury. 

Who were Elton John’s musical guests?

Instead of big name collaborators such as Spears or Dua Lipa, Sir Elton was joined on stage by friends and musicians he admires, starting with Jacob Lusk of Gabriels, who joined him for Are You Ready For Love?

Lusk, 36, competed on the tenth season of American Idol, finishing in fifth place, and is one third of Gabriels, alongside Ari Balouzian and Ryan Hope.

Sir Elton was then joined by US singer Stephen Sanchez to perform the only song in the two-hour set that didn’t come from Sir Elton’s own songbook. The pair sang Sanchez’s song Until I Found You.

The music superstar told the crowd: “I wanted to have newer artists, save for one person, and this boy I heard last year on the radio… I’ve asked him to come to Glastonbury to do his song and he’s an amazing young talent.”

The biggest star to join Sir Elton on stage was The Killers frontman, who appeared for Tiny Dancer.

Introducing him, Sir Elton said: “My next guest I first met in 2005 when I first started playing Las Vegas, and he came to my hotel suite to play me his band’s first album Hot Fuss – we’ve been friends ever since.”

He added that Flowers was “the first person I thought of” to be a guest during his set.

His final guest was Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama, who performed Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.

Sir Elton also paid tribute to a collaborator who could not join him on stage as he launched into Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, saying: “This is a very special day today, I wondered how I was going to approach it. One of Britain’s most fantastic singers and songwriters was George Michael.

“He was my friend, he was an inspiration, and today would have been his 60th birthday, so I want to dedicate this song to his memory. All the music he left us with is so gorgeous. This is for you George.”

Michael, who duetted with Sir Elton on the track, died in 2016.