Jarvis Cocker reveals the only reason Pulp will ever play Glastonbury again

Fans were convinced they'd appear this year!

Jarvis Cocker reveals the only reason Pulp will ever play Glastonbury again
Pulp are unlikely to perform at this year’s Glastonbury Festival (Picture: Mick Hutson/ Redferns)

Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker has said the band will only perform at Glastonbury Festival this year in a ‘life or death situation’.

Last week – after a nearly 25-year hiatus since their last album – the band announced their next studio album, titled More.

Formed in Sheffield in 1978, Pulp grew in popularity in the mid-1990s, firstly with their 1994 album His ‘n’ Hers and its follow-up Different Class.

At their peak, they headlined the Pyramid Stage of Glastonbury in 1995, standing in for The Stone Roses at the last minute. They then performed on the same stage again three years later.

In recent months there’s been mounting speculation Pulp are due to appear at the festival again this year.

However now Jarvis, 61, has made it clear the chance of that happening is slim.

The rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978 (Picture: Martyn Goodacre/ Getty Images) Jarvis said they would only perform in a ‘life or death situation’ (Picture: Matthew Baker/ Getty Images)

‘I will be going to Glastonbury, and I might DJ.,’ he told the Scott Mills Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2.

‘Well, you know, I do occasionally DJ at Glastonbury in a place called Stone Bridge near the park stage. I will be happy to see what is going on there.’

Pushed on whether fans could expect Pulse to perform, he told the host: ‘I don’t think that’s going to happen.

‘If it was a life-or-death situation, but I really don’t think it’s going to happen.’

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During the interview Jarvis was also asked about the band’s first-ever appearance at the festival.

While in the studio recording Different Class the phone rang, and they were asked to step in after Stone Roses guitarist John Squire fell off his mountain bike and fractured his collarbone.

After ‘stopping and discussing it’, they soon knew they were ‘going to do it’.

Reflecting on that time, Jarvis said the opportunity made them feel like they were finally ‘popular now’ and were receiving ‘vindication I suppose’.

In 2011 the band were then one of the surprise special guests at the festival.

They’ve previously performed on the fame Pyramid stage twice before – in 1995 and 1998 (Picture: Michael Putland/ Getty Images)

Pulp’s last album, We Loe Life, was released in 2001 before took a decade-long break.

Although they reunited in 2011 and released the song After You in 2013, there’s been no new albums since.

However earlier this year they announced a new tour – their first since 2022 – before revealing new music was also on its way.

During their last tour tickets for Pulp’s 10 shows across the UK were snapped up in minutes.

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