'Biggest ever' Glastonbury crowd comes together for Elton John's final UK performance

Fans came out in massive numbers to watch British icon Elton John play his last-ever set in the United Kingdom at the 2023 Glastonbury Festival. The 76-year-old legend is believed to have entertained over 120,000 people in person and a record 7.3 million people tuned in to watch the performance live on BBC One, reports BBC. Diana Ross was the most-watched star with 3.1 million while Paul McCartney's headline set was viewed by 2.7 million people.

The two-hour set included all his greatest hits including "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me," "Rocket Man," "Candle In The Wind" and "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" to name a few. Other singers also joined in on songs like "Are You Ready For Love?" with Jacob Lusk and the London Community Gospel Choir, "Tiny Dancer" with Brandon Flowers and "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with Rina Sawyama.

The icon, whose career in the music industry has spanned five decades, told all those watching: "I'm so happy to be here. I won't ever forget this. I never thought I would ever play Glastonbury and here I am. It’s a very special and emotional night for me because it might be my last show ever in England, so I had better play well and I had better entertain you, you’ve been standing there so long and I really appreciate all the outfits and everything."

Toward the end, Elton John dedicated "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" to late pop star George Michael calling him, "one of Britain's most fantastic singers, songwriters [and] artists."

"He was my friend, an inspiration, and today would have been his 60th birthday - I want to dedicate this song to his memory, and all the music he left us with which is so gorgeous," he added.

Fans took to Twitter to express their love for the great artist. @claremcdonnell1 tweeted, "My other half called this 'life affirming.' Impossible to quantify what this one artist has meant to so many people down the decades. The songwriting, the virtuosity of the whole band, the stagecraft, the passion for what they do: life-affirming."

@SharynBelc13710 wrote, "Elton John's performance at Glastonbury was legendary! The energy of the crowd was electric, and every song sent chills down my spine." @glastobation said, "I’m a casual Elton John fan, but this was a total out-of-body experience. Not sure I’ve recovered."

Taron Egerton, who played the music legend in his 2019 biopic "Rocketman," was also spotted at the festival. Many fans were disappointed that the actor wasn't on stage along with Elton. @Keely_C1999 tweeted, "To whoever decided they were going to start a rumor that Taron Egerton would be performing with Elton John at Glastonbury today and get my hopes up... congratulations, you are now on my hit list. Not cool." @LPyndsey added, "I was fully expecting Taron Egerton to come on stage, he's at Glasto! Find it a bit strange he wasn't part of the Elton set, the audience would have ate it up! Loved it nonetheless!"