The cost of Glastonbury Festival: Rod Stewart reveals how much he was paid, and how much he spent to perform

• Despite Glastonbury Festival 2025 having finished, questions are still being posed about this year’s festival.
• While the discussions about Bob Vylan and Kneecap’s inclusion continues, other questions were posed just how much artists get paid to play at Worthy Farm.
• Sir Rod Stewart, in an interview before the festival, reveals how much he was paid to perform - and how much it cost him to play the legends set this year.

The dust is finally settling, the clean-up begins, and bookmakers have already published their favourites ahead of 2027’s festival – that indeed was another Glastonbury for another year.

As the fallout continues after the controversial sets from both Bob Vylan and Kneecap, leading to questions addressed to the BBC for the broadcasts, for a lot of musicians the idea of performing on the hallowed ground of Worthy Farm is almost priceless.

Almost, being the operative word.

Questions have been posed ahead of this year’s festival regarding the notion some acts are ‘paying-to-play’ at the festival, stumping up a fee or doing some general festival bar work for the chance to include the festival on their musical CVs. Reports have also suggested that, generally, headline acts such as Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo this year don’t get paid more than £500,000 for their performance.

Previously, Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis admitted that he paid £200,000 for both Paul McCartney and Coldplay for their previous headline sets, with the admission that the bands ‘could have charged me far more.’

For many, it’s the notion of playing one of the biggest music festivals in the world, including a legend such as Sir Rod Stewart, who, in an interview with the Radio Times before this year’s event, revealed how much he was paid for his ‘legends’ slot alongside how much it cost him just to perform this year.

How much did Rod Stewart get paid to perform at Glastonbury 2025, and how much did it cost him?

Sir Rod Stewart revealed in the interview with Radio Times that while Glastonbury paid him approximately £120,000 for his Legends slot performance, it cost him £300,000 to put on the show.

This significant personal outlay was due to the expenses of bringing his band and equipment over from America, a commitment he described as worth it for the honour of performing in such an esteemed slot.

Despite the financial hit, Stewart emphasised that it "doesn't matter," highlighting that the honour of performing in the prestigious Legends slot, a position previously held by artists like Barry Gibb, Diana Ross, and Shania Twain, outweighed the cost.

What did Rod Stewart perform during his legends set at Glastonbury 2025?

For those who missed his Sunday afternoon set, either live or on the BBC, you missed out on a sensational set of classics, with a huge crowd assembled to see him perform, including the ‘Nans for Rod’ crowd.

Setlist.FM has listed his Glastonbury Festival 2025 performance as follows:

• Tonight I'm Yours (Don't Hurt Me)
• Having a Party (Sam Cooke cover)
• Some Guys Have All the Luck (The Persuaders cover)
• Love Train (The O’Jays cover)
• The First Cut Is the Deepest (Cat Stevens cover)
• Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)
• Forever Young (with Riverdance interlude)
• You Wear It Well
• Maggie May (includes a snippet of 'Gasoline Alley')
• Young Turks
• It's a Heartache (Bonnie Tyler cover)
• I'd Rather Go Blind (Etta James cover)
• Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?
• Lady Marmalade (The Eleventh Hour cover) (Sung by backing singers)
• I Don't Want to Talk About It (Crazy Horse cover)
• If You Don't Know Me by Now (Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes cover) (with Mick Hucknall)
• Baby Jane
• Proud Mary (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover) (Sung by backing singers)
• Stay With Me (Faces song) (with Ronnie Wood)
• Hot Legs (with Lulu) (and Ronnie Wood)
• Sailing (The Sutherland Brothers Band cover)

Would you play Glastonbury Festival if it cost you more than what you would be paid, owing to the prestige of the festival? Did you think the stage set-up for Sir Rod Stewart was worth the £300,000 he paid? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment down below.