SZA Says She Was ‘Scared’ and ‘Freaked Out’ During Her Glastonbury Set

SZA has spoken out about her Glastonbury Festival headlining set, saying that she was “scared” and “freaked out” during the show in June.

The “Kill Bill” artist experienced numerous technical difficulties during her performance, with her microphone sounding muffled and occasionally inaudible during the opening 30 minutes. The show received mixed reviews from critics and attendees, with other performers on smaller stages appearing to pull bigger crowds. She headlined the final night of the festival, following Dua Lipa and Coldplay on the Pyramid Stage the previous two evenings.

Speaking to British Vogue, she said of the show, “I just felt like nothing I could do would be enough for Glastonbury, no matter what I did.” She also added, “It scared me. I was like, well, I wish I wasn’t doing it, but I couldn’t walk away from it.”

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“It’s such a tall order,” SZA told the publication. “It’s like, no matter what you do here, you will be subject to criticism because of who you are. But that’s life. That’s life, you know?”

She continued, “I’m like, I’m freaked out right now. I’m scared. I feel like I’m drowning on stage and I feel like I’m failing.”

SZA also said that she felt the pressure to follow Beyoncé as the “second Black woman in history” to headline the festival. Beyoncé topped the bill in 2011, though Skin from British rock band Skunk Anainse also headlined the festival in 1999.

The first tickets for the 2025 edition of the festival went on sale Thursday (Nov. 14), with punters hoping to purchase a coach and weekend entry ticket package. A general sale will take place on Sunday (Nov. 17) for the 200,000-capacity festival, with tickets expected to sell out within hours.

Earlier this month, Glastonbury announced a new sale process for the event. Previously, the festival operated a random entry system onto the ticketing vendor’s website, which encouraged users to refresh their browsers multiple times to try and gain entrance to buy tickets. This year they’ve implemented a queuing system, meaning that fans will have to wait their turn to enter the site.