Billie Eilish has spoken out against the overturning of Roe v. Wade during her Glastonbury headline set.
Tonight (June 24), Billie Eilish has made history and become the youngest ever solo headliner of Glastonbury Festival, joining Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar at the top of the bill.
Opening with ‘Bury A Friend’, her set included tracks like ‘NDA’, ‘Oxytocin’ and ‘You Should See Me in a Crown’. “Are you ready to have some fun?” she said, before launching into ‘My Strange Addiction’.
Joined by her brother Finneas, the pair played ‘Your Power’ together on the stage with acoustic guitars.
“It’s about the concept of power and how we always need to remember not to abuse it,” Eilish said. “Today is a really really dark day for women in the US. And I’m just going to say that because I can’t bear to think about it anymore in this moment.”
Eilish joins multiple musicians in sharing her reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade today (June 24), including Taylor Swift who tweeted: “I’m absolutely terrified that this is where we are – that after so many decades of people fighting for women’s rights to their own bodies, today’s decision has stripped us of that.”
The overturning of the landmark case means abortion will no longer be protected as a federal right in the US for the first time since 1973, and each state will be able to decide individually whether to restrict or ban abortion.
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— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) June 24, 2022
Speaking to NME for this week’s Big Read cover story ahead of her headlining performance, Eilish delved into her new material, her work with sibling Finneas, and her pursuit of happiness in a transitional period in her life.
“I owe it to everyone to put on a good Glastonbury headline set,” she said. “It’s heart-warming to see how much people care about it and think that this is going to be the best weekend of their lives.”
She added: “I’m really crossing my fingers that it’s a good vibe out there. I’m hoping that the crowd is ready to have as much fun as I am ready to have, and not just be there to watch – I need energy coming back from the crowd to bounce off”.
Elsewhere, she shared that she felt it “was so cool to be a young woman and headline festivals, because it’s so male-dominated,” adding that she had felt “hopeless” for the future of women in music in 2017 and 2018.
In other news, NME have announced a limited edition print magazine to celebrate our Big Read cover story with Eilish.
In honour of her historic Glastonbury set, 1000 copies of a special limited edition magazine with Billie’s cover feature will be available. Stay tuned to NME.com and socials to find out how to get your hands on a copy very soon.
Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews photos and more from Glastonbury 2022.
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