Seventeen made British festival history at Glastonbury on Friday afternoon (Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire)
South Korean boy band Seventeen made history at Glastonbury on Friday as they became the first K-pop group to ever play the famous festival.
While Dua Lipa is down to headline the Pyramid Stage on Friday, Seventeen took to the iconic venue in the afternoon – and it’s safe to say their set went down a storm.
The 13-strong boy band, who sold more than 10million albums worldwide in 2023, are one of the biggest pop groups in Korea and Japan and also have a considerable UK following.
Speaking to the BBC ahead of their set at Glastonbury this weekend, members from the group were confident they would ‘blow everybody away’ – and it appears they did more than that.
Coming to the stage immediately afterwards was Paul Heaton of The Housemartins and The Beautiful South, who described Seventeen’s set as ‘bedlam’.
‘It was bedlam backstage,’ the Song For Whoever hitmaker told the crowd at Worthy Farm. ‘I didn’t know what to do with myself.’
The 13-strong boy band are split into three ‘teams’ within the group (Picture: Maja Smiejkowska/Shutterstock)
In the crowd, Metro.co.uk reporters spoke to two people who had come to Glastonbury all the way from South Korea just to see their heroes make British festival history.
‘I’ve seen them before but I feel so lucky to have seen them [at Glastonbury]. I really loved it and I’m so proud of them. This was so much better [than other shows I’ve seen] because they were closer.’
Also in attendance was proud mum Sally, who told Metro.co.uk that she’d only gone to see Seventeen because her 14-year-old daughter – a Seventeen superfan – couldn’t make it.
Fans travelled from far and wide to see Seventeen make history (Picture: Oli Scarff/Getty)
Paul Heaton said the Seventeen show was ‘bedlam’ (Picture: Ben Ryan/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock)
‘I’m [flying a banner] for her. She’s on a Duke of Edinburgh expedition today – she’s up in the hills. She’s the biggest Seventeen fan. When she heard I was going to see them – oh my God, it was a hard moment for her.’
Sally continued: ‘They blew me away. I absolutely loved it. [My daughter is] currently trekking in the hills – I’ll tell her about it on Sunday night.’
On Twitter, @Minghaocheol_ said: AND SEVENTEEN JUST MADE HISTORY AS THE FIRST KPOP ACT TO PERFORM IN GLASTONBURY!! SO PROUD OF YOU MY SEVENTEEN!!!!!’
Meanwhile, @RoastBeefJohnny, said: ‘My name’s John. I have a confession. I f******g loved Seventeen’s set. Yes, you heard it correctly, and now I await to be judged.’
Before the Glastonbury set, Seventeen member Choi Seungcheol said: ‘There’s a great sense of responsibility. We’ll keep coming back to that feeling and do our best to prepare. Not just our fans, but everyone in the audience.’
Seventeen were first put together in 2015 – the name comes from there being 13 members who are split into three teams with one goal. 13 plus three plus one equals 17.
The band writes and records its own music and arranges its own choreography, with some of the members even branching out into acting, having once been part of a TV series called Seventeen TV.
Each member of the group belongs to one of three teams. The hip-hop group consists of S Coups (Choi’s stage name), who is the group and unit leader and rapper, and Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Vernon.
The vocal team consists of Woozi, who is the leader of the unit and also a producer, plus Jeonghan, Joshua, DK / Dokyeom, and Seungkwan.
The performance team, which focuses on dance and choreography, has four members. Hoshi is the group leader, being a dancer, vocalist, and rapper. Meanwhile, Jun, Hoshi, and Dino are the other members of the performance group – they are also skilled singers in their own right.
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