he Pretenders treated fans to a star-studded Glastonbury set which featured guest appearances from Johnny Marr and Dave Grohl, as well as a greeting from Sir Paul McCartney.
The US-British rock band were a surprise addition to the Park Stage’s Saturday line-up, only announcing their 7.45pm slot at Worthy Farm earlier this week.
After the rock band rolled through hits from their back catalogue, they reunited on stage with The Smiths’ musician Marr, who had a spell in the rock band in the late 1980s.
Ahead of introducing him, frontwoman Chrissie Hynde said: “Glastonbury has so many memories but my favourite is seeing my guitar heroes.”
She noted that their guitarist James Walbourne was one and Marr was another.
Marr joined them for a rendition of hits including Back On The Chain Gang and Don’t Get Me Wrong.
The rockers shocked the crowd further as they brought the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl on for the end of their set.
Ahead of his reveal, Hynde told the crowd: “Apparently there’s a drummer kicking around back stage”, with the field erupting into cheers when his name was announced.
The performance marked the former Nirvana drummer’s second set of the festival after he took to the Pyramid stage on Friday for a surprise set which had been originally billed as mystery band The Churnups.
Together they played a number of classic songs including I’ll Stand By You.
The rock band opened their set with a new track, titled Losing My Sense Of Taste, and later slashed through guitar riffs on Time The Avenger, with Hynde saying afterwards: “Oh Glastonbury, how many memories, how many past loves, how many past lives.”
They continued to rile up the crowd during Middle Of The Road, with Hynde whipping out the harmonica to close the song.
Hynde also delivered a poignant moment at one stage as she slowed down the tempo to sing Hymn To Her, getting the masses of fans to sing back the chorus to them.
Finishing the song, she said: “That was for Meg Keene (Hynde’s friend who wrote the track).”
As they signed off the set, Hynde went into the wings where Sir Paul had been watching on and gave him a hug.
After much chanting from the crowd, the Beatles star came on to the stage and waved alongside Hynde.
Electronic duo Leftfield and DJ Fatboy Slim will follow to close out the stage on Saturday night.
