SZA closed Glastonbury Festival in style (Picture: Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
SZA has shared a poignant message about ‘bravery’ after receiving savage reactions to her headline set at Glastonbury 2024 on Sunday night.
The Snooze singer – real name Solána Imani Rowe – headlined the Pyramid Stage on Sunday night, closing the Worthy Farm music extravaganza in spectacular style.
It didn’t go without a hitch though, sadly, as SZA, 34, became the latest performer to be hit by technical issues while on stage. Fans defended the American singer but others were brutal in their commentary, questioning her worthiness of headlining the festival.
Hours after leaving the stage, the Broken Clocks singer shared a tweet alluding to the backlash.
‘The bravery required to be alive in public is remarkable. S/o everybody doing that s**t,’ she wrote on X in the early hours of Monday morning.
The likes of Shania Twain – who played the Legends slot earlier on Sunday to a crowd of thousands – were also caught up in the nightmare sound problems, leaving both revellers in Somerset and viewers at home frustrated.
Sadly, the Grammy winner was hit by tech issues (Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire)
As soon as SZA came out, it was clear something wasn’t quite right, as the US star began 15 minutes late.
She then launched into hits including Love Galore, the day after her headline show at British Summer Time in London’s Hyde Park.
Slamming the technical faults, fans rushed to social media to beg for an intervention.
X user glassarmy blasted: ‘Justice for sza!! what have glastonbury done to her mic to make her vocals sound this way, this is excruciating.’
‘This is so hard to watch as a fan. Her management need to be spitting fires on the sidelines’, added MRidzBh.
christo_tweets added that it was ‘heartbreaking’ to watch SZA battle the microphone blunder, while Chris_LCFC1884 asked: ‘Is it meant to sound like she’s announcing the next arrival at platform 3 at Euston?’
‘I’ve turned it off it’s awful. The whole festival has been woeful this year. Barring a few acts!’, criticised Ashleypp1986.
Others declared it was ‘impossible’ to understand what she was saying and claimed it sounded like SZA was singing ‘underwater’.
Fans have defended SZA after social media backlash (Picture: Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Thankfully, as SZA left the stage for a costume change, the technical nightmare seemed to come to an end and she returned with a new mic – hallelujah!
The rest of her set included her appearing on an elevated podium to perform the intro to her hit PSA.
She was then lowered down to the stage which was adorned with elaborate pillars and a large insect, which she sat on for one number.
She asked her assembled fans: ‘Do I have any day ones in the crowd?’
SZA also performed hits including F2F, I Hate U and Kiss Me More, her collaboration with Doja Cat.
She appeared in a patterned body suit and flat boots with neon laces that ran up to her thighs, looking as sensational as ever.
During her rendition of her viral track Kill Bill, SZA brandished two swords, showcasing her samurai skills for the track, which takes its name from the Quentin Tarantino film starring Uma Thurman.
The American singer put on a show despite the rocky start (Picture: Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
SZA later changed into a forest green gown adorned with leaves, teamed with metallic wings, for her track Supermodel, from her debut album Ctrl.
During the track Nobody Gets Me, she climbed up a large fallen tree trunk that adorned her set and sat on an elevated platform on the tree.
SZA also performed tracks such as Normal Girl, The Weekend, Rich Baby Daddy, her collaboration with Drake and Sexyy Red, before closing out her set with throwback hit 20 Something.
She told the crowd: ‘Glasto, you want to do 20 Something before we leave? This is for day ones and day ones only.’
Concluding her show, she said: ‘Glastonbury, I was so nervous to be here with you today.
‘I’m so grateful, you have my deepest love and my deepest respect. I love you always, god bless you.
‘Get home safely, my name is SZA, goodnight.’
As mentioned, SZA isn’t the only Glastonbury performer to have encountered sound issues, with Cyndi Lauper notably struggling.
The music icon’s set received complaints on Saturday, including accusations that the singer was miming.
Artists including Camila Cabello and Chris Martin of Coldplay were also hit by lip-syncing allegations, while Dua Lipa denied using a backing track, setting the record straight after her headline slot on Friday.
Following cruel trolling, the Houdini hitmaker issued a three-word response when speaking to MailOnline backstage at Glastonbury after her gig.
Dua shrugged off the rumours and said: ‘I don’t mime.’
Dua Lipa hit back at miming allegations (Picture: Z.J/Backgrid)
Cyndi Lauper was hit by tech faults too (Picture: Tom Wren/SWNS)
Shania Twain powered through her Legends slot, despite her sound troubles (Picture: Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
A source added to The Sun: ‘Dua’s vocals were 100% live.
‘She had worked for years to that moment and would never dream of miming to her fans.’
Glastonbury is now over for another year, with organisers already setting their sights on 2025.
While festival organiser Emily Eavis has confirmed 2026 will be a fallow year for Glastonbury to allow the land to rest and recover, she is already in talks with acts to headline in 2025.
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