Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis revealed a major female artist has been booked for the legends slot at the 2024 festival.
Appearing on the BBC podcast Sidetracked, she said the line-up for the five-day event in June is still "a little up in the air" but that she hopes there will be two females headliners.
Asked who she has set her sights on, Eavis did not reveal any identities but said the representatives for a "really big American artist" had recently reached out.
She told podcast hosts Annie Macmanus and Nick Grimshaw on Thursday’s episode: "I’ve been talking to people about headline slots for next year for about two years and those are still very much up in the air so it takes a long time."
The festival organiser said she thought things were "taking shape" until she received a phone call last week that changed things.
"This is what happens if you wait a little longer, because quite often we’ll be booked up from July but this year we’re holding out for a little bit longer", she explained.
"And then last week, I got a call from a really big American artist saying 'This person’s around next year’ and I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is incredible. Thank god we held the slot’."
The 2023 festival came under fire due to all of the headliners being men.
Eavis addressed the backlash at the time, explaining she had tried to book a female headliner but that the act had to pull out due to calendar clashes.
Reflecting about the balance on the podcast she said: "I’ve always been really passionate about gender split. I think actually our problem was that I’ve been so outspoken about it that having a year where there wasn’t a female, it (made) some people a bit mad…
"And actually we did have a female, she pulled out and we replaced with Guns N’ Roses on Saturday."
She added: "It is difficult with female artists because there aren’t enough headliners but we’re also creating them… there’s female artists on smaller stages and (we’re) bringing them through all the time so I feel the pool is going to be bigger soon.
"And who knows next year we might get two and certainly I can say that the legend is female."
Eavis also revealed that she is hoping to release the line-up in the new year after tickets go on sale next week to avoid an influx of fans attending for one artist.
Glastonbury will return to Worthy Farm in Somerset from 26 to 30 June.
This year’s festival saw the Arctic Monkeys top the bill on the Pyramid Stage on Friday, US rockers Guns N’ Roses on Saturday and Elton John on Sunday night.
Yusuf/Cat Stevens performed in the teatime legends slot on Sunday afternoon, followed by classic rock outfit Blondie.
Stages across the 900-acre site hosted a range of world-class music stars as well as speeches by politicians, film screenings, and theatre and circus performances.
Source: Press Association
