Richie finally says ‘Hello’ to Glasto

Lionel Richie stole the show at Glastonbury yesterday, with huge crowds singing and dancing along.

The soul singer was grinning in astonishment at how popular his outing proved, telling the audience: “This is unbelievable. I’m intimidated because you know the words better than I do.”

Richie, performing hits including ’Dancing on the Ceiling’, ‘Hello’, and ‘All Night Long’, took to the stage just as the sun came out and told the crowd: “It has been a long time coming but I finally made it to Glastonbury.”

The Who closed the festival on the Pyramid Stage as the sun set on Worthy Farm. Earlier in the day, Wicklow singer Hozier drew the masses to the main stage, with ‘Take Me To Church’ proving one of the singalong moments of the weekend.

It has been a particularly diverse and controversial year for the festival, which saw a last-minute cancellation from the Foo Fighters, a stage invasion during Kanye West’s headline performance on Saturday, and a visit from Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

YES! @LionelRichie it was you who we were looking for! WATCH THE MASTER LIVE -> http://t.co/cMADXCO7dw http://t.co/mYW81NCzKF #bbcglasto

— BBC Glastonbury (@bbcglasto) June 28, 2015

The weather was just as extreme, regularly switching from sunshine to downpours, causing a range of injuries from sun-stroke to dislocations after campers slipped in the muddy fields.

The unenviable task of cleaning up the 1,000-acre site, which played host to some 135,000 campers, begins today with 800 litter pickers hired to help clear the farm, usually home to festival founder Michael Eavis’s herd of prize-winning cows.

Although their band wasn’t playing the festival, Niall Horan, from Mullingar, and Louis Tomlinson of One Direction were among the plethora of stars seen walking around the site over the weekend.

The Dalai Lama came onstage during Patti Smith’s set yesterday afternoon. The singer led the crowd in a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ as the Dalai Lama blew out candles on a cake ahead of his 80th birthday.

Eavis said he was relieved to hear positive reviews of Kanye West’s show, after his daughter Emily received death threats for the booking, but admitted he did not watch the performance himself. West’s stunning visual performance saw a comedian invade the stage minutes in to his set and the rapper elevated above the crowd in a cherrypicker.