Sir Elton John to headline Glastonbury: 11 of his most memorable specs
The Rocketman is headlining Worthy Farm and we can expect some serious eyewear. Here are the frames we have been blessed with over his long career.
Taking to the stage in the UK for one last time, Sir Elton John has bagged the biggest headline slot going.
A tweet from Glastonbury announcing the news said: “We are incredibly excited to announce that the one and only @EltonOfficial will headline the Pyramid Stage on Sunday night at Glastonbury 2023, for what will be the final UK show of his last ever tour.”
The music and fashion icon Sir Elton John is rarely seen without a pair of glasses on, and throughout his music career – which has spanned six decades – he’s amassed a huge collection.
The legendary singer-songwriter, 75, said in a BBC Radio 2 interview: “I don’t have an iPod or a computer. I do have a quarter of a million pairs of glasses, but I don’t even have a mobile phone.”
We wonder which specs revellers will be treated to at Worthy Farm?
These are Sir Elton’s best glasses moments…
1. Stars in their eyes
The singer-songwriter scored a string of hit albums and singles in the Seventies. He sported these star-shaped glasses in 1974, the same year he released the original version of Candle in the Wind.
2. Seventies sunnies
Elton John meeting the Queen in 1977
Meeting the Queen in 1977, the pop star accessorised his checkerboard-lapel suit with a pair of oversized round sunglasses.
3. Cowboy cool
Pictured at Heathrow Airport in 1982, the pop star chose huge wraparound sunnies to go with his leather jacket, cowboy hat and Watford FC bag.
4. Stripy shades
Worn by the singer in 1983, these asymmetrical striped sunglasses are like something out of a Picasso painting.
5. Small change
In the Nineties, John ditched his signature oversized specs and started wearing much smaller styles, like these diamond shaped frames seen in 1995.
6. Feeling blue
He matched a pair of blue lenses with this eye-popping satin suit in 1996.
7. Purple pair
Sir Elton John performing in 2000
By the time the Noughties arrived, the micro glasses trend was over, but the singer, who was knighted in 1998, was still matching his specs to his suits.
8. Sparkly specs
Wearing bejewelled glasses in 2009
Attending the 2009 Elton John AIDS Foundation party, the pop star showed off a bespoke pair of sunnies emblazoned with diamante crystals spelling out his initials.
9. Gnome sweet gnome
Elton John at the Los Angeles premiere of Gnomeo and Juliet
Pictured at the LA premiere of Gnomeo And Juliet in 2010, the singer – who was executive producer and contributed to the soundtrack – poked fun at his specs-obsession, donning a pair of novelty gnome glasses.
10. Doing the rounds
Elton John during filming of the Graham Norton Show
These days, the pop icon’s fashion choices are a lot more conservative than in his early showbiz years, but he’ll still surprise us with a dazzling pair of designer glasses every so often, like the big round frames he wore on the Graham Norton Show in 2017.
11. Fair and square
Sir Elton John after being made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour
Rewarded for his services to music and charity, Sir Elton was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2021. Accepting the honour at Windsor Castle, he looked dapper in a dark suit and blue tie, accessorised with a trendy pair of angular oversized frames.
