Paloma Faith has hit back at Glastonbury trolls and pleaded with music fans to ‘give women a chance’ after a number of female artists suffered technical difficulties.
As 210,000 revellers spent the weekend at Worthy Farm in Somerset, millions watched from home thanks to the BBC’s continuous coverage.
But after SZA, Dua Lipa, Shania Twain and Cyndi Lauper were criticized and accused of “misplaying” when sound issues disrupted their performances, Paloma couldn’t help but clap back.
The 42-year-old Warrior singer reminded her viewers via Instagram Stories on Monday that women aren’t on stage to be “shamed and ridiculed,” but to be “bosses.”
She wrote to her 835,000 followers: ‘The way people are criticising the women who performed @glastonbury online is absolutely appalling.’
Paloma Faith has hit back at Glastonbury trolls and pleaded with music fans to ‘give women a chance’ after a host of female artists suffered technical issues
After artists like SZA, Dua Lipa and Shania Twain were criticized and accused of ‘miming’ when sound issues disrupted their performances, Paloma couldn’t help but clap back
‘I think people need to understand that women are not on stage to be ridiculed and shamed. We are there with all our power as bosses and supporting each other.
‘GIVE WOMEN A BREAK.’
SZA faced criticism from fans when she took the stage as the third and final headliner on Sunday and encountered sound problems.
The 34-year-old American singer performed on the iconic Pyramid Stage, but the show prompted complaints from viewers, who criticised her “terrible” microphone issues.
SZA’s show struggled to draw the huge crowd that Coldplay had attracted the night before, with thousands of fans leaving after watching England play in Euro 2024.
Footage from the festival showed a significantly smaller crowd than the one that attended Coldplay on Saturday.
When SZA made her headline performance, viewers were quick to complain about her sound problems, with some claiming it sounded like she was “singing into a fan.”
Posts on X included: “I’ve been recommending SZA to my mom and dad for months and then it sounded like she was singing to a fan;”
The 42-year-old Warrior singer pleaded with viewers to be kind via her Instagram Stories, reminding people that women are not on stage to be “shamed and ridiculed”
SZA was criticized by fans when she took the stage as the third and final headliner on Sunday and faced sound problems
Dua Lipa, 28, was the first to be accused of lip-synching by viewers of the BBC broadcast of the festival on Friday night
Shania Twain suffered the same fate when she took to the stage on Sunday. The iconic singer, 58, was seen struggling with her earpiece as she appeared to have trouble with her pitch
‘Fix SZA’s mic NOW;’ ‘Is something wrong with SZA’s mic? I can’t understand a word she says;’ ‘Who the hell sabotages SZA’s mic at Glastonbury????;’
Dua Lipa, 28, faced similar criticism from her fans after experiencing a series of technical issues during her performance at the festival on Friday.
Although it was her dream to perform on the world-famous Pyramid stage, her performance in front of tens of thousands of fans was met with accusatory scrutiny and criticism that she did not sing at all.
Her loyal fans thought the One Kiss hitmaker was singing along to a backing track.
But when our reporter spoke to her in the VIP area on Sunday, she dismissed the criticism.
“I don’t do pantomime,” the Grammy Award winner said as she toasted her success with her actor boyfriend Callum Turner, 34, at an exclusive bar on the festival’s Worthy Farm site.
Shania Twain suffered the same fate when she took the stage on Sunday.
The iconic 58-year-old singer struggled with her earpiece, as she appeared to have trouble with her pitch and timing.
Shania made a dramatic entrance alongside drag queens and dancers, before quickly running into trouble.
Shocked fans rushed to X, formerly Twitter, to criticize those behind the scenes, feeling nothing but sympathy for Shania’s moment being ruined.
They wrote: ‘Absolutely awful sound mix on Shania!’: ‘The sound at Glastonbury was awful on BBC, Cyndi yesterday and now Shania? Maybe BBC just hates gay icons’: ‘The sound is pretty bad for Shania’: ‘It seems Shania knows there’s something wrong with the sound’.
Cyndi Lauper’s performance at Glastonbury on Saturday also came under fire after major sound problems disrupted her set.
Festival-goers could barely hear the vocals of the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun singer, as her voice was drowned out by the rumbling bass.
After a few songs, Cyndi, 71, sang Rocking Chair. She seemed to be struggling with her pitch and timing.
When she sang her hit I Drove All Night, the sound problems seemed to have been solved.
But Cyndi failed again with her 1984 song Time After Time, as she lagged behind the band, indicating that she was having problems with her in-ear monitors.
The crowd came to Cyndi’s aid and lifted her up as they sang along to her mega hits True Colors and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.
Cyndi Lauper’s Glastonbury performance on Saturday also drew criticism after major sound issues disrupted the set
Despite the problems, Cyndi, who has more than 40 years of stage experience, was a true professional.
Some fans took to X – formerly known as Twitter – to complain about the “horrible sound issues” during the Legends set.
“Terrible sound problems for Cyndi Lauper. I really felt for her.”
‘I felt so guilty for #CyndiLauper – I could tell she was pissed off about the sound issues.’
Another singer who caught the attention of her attentive fans was Camila Cabello, who gave a racy performance during her set on Saturday.
The 27-year-old singer, who rose to fame as a member of the pop group Fifth Harmony, raised temperatures when she took to the stage in a busty top and hot pants.
As she took to the stage in her racy outfit, one of Camila’s backup dancers, dressed as an animal, could be seen cooling her down by rubbing an ice cream cone all over her body.
The American-Cuban singer rose to fame at age 15 as a member of Fifth Harmony on The X Factor US, before going solo four years later.
While the eyes of the audience were bulging from their sockets at the steaming performance, some noticed something strange. They accused the singer of imitating her songs.
One person posted on X: ‘Camila Cabello lip syncing her performance, nice #Glastonbury #Glastonbury2024’.
A second wrote: ‘You were stupid, you lip synced fake – Camilla Cabello’.
Paloma was fortunate not to have suffered from such problems and was feeling better and was back on stage at Glastonbury on Sunday, just days after losing her voice and having to cancel her Southampton gig.
Another one who came under scrutiny from observant fans was Camila Cabello, who gave a racy performance during her Saturday set