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Madame Tussauds has provided further details within the press release, “Working in partnership with Bowie’s estate and using information from his 1983 sitting, Madame Tussauds London’s new figure is the second to be created of Bowie and immortalises the singer’s alter ego, the extra-terrestrial rockstar Ziggy Stardust. Fans of the icon of sound and vision will recognise Starman’s signature red hairstyle, cosmic jumpsuit and celestial makeup made famous in the 1970s.”

The press release continues to describe the new musical zone, “Bowie’s new figure marks the launch of our newly revamped Music Festival zone; the only place where guests can experience a truly impossible line up of musical greats. From posing with Beyoncé and Amy Winehouse, jamming with Jimi Hendrix and Ed Sheeran to owning the stage alongside Freddie Mercury and Stormzy, this is a line up that only Madame Tussauds London could create.”

The London attraction’s latest waxwork marks their second homage to the rock icon. Bowie’s new figure has been modelled after the artist’s alter ego Ziggy Stardust. The English musician first donned the red boots and thunderbolt in the early ’70s, however Bowie retired the alien during a concert in 1973, the now-infamous London gig was filmed for the documentary Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars. The character has remained a huge part of musical history and is regarded as a musician in his own right; the pivotal album The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars cemented the extra-terrestrial Rockstar’s place in pop culture.

 

 

 

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Joining the “Rebel Rebel” singer in the recently opened area are a host of music’s biggest stars including fellow Londoner Stormzy, Ed Sheeran, legendary songstress Amy Winehouse, Freddie Mercury, Jimi Hendrix, Dua Lipa, Bob Marley and superstar Beyonce. To commemorate the exciting new space, Madame Tussauds have placed the musicians’ waxed counterparts in London’s most iconic music venues. The team dug into the city’s deep musical roots and storied history to produce the below video announcing the exhibition’s launch.

Tim Waters, General Manager at London Madame Tussauds has given the following statement, “David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust transcends generations and music genres, making him the ultimate headliner to launch our new Music Festival zone.  We were honoured to work with his estate in what would have been his 75th year and play our small part in keeping his inimitable legacy alive for generations to come. We know that guests love to meet their music heroes here at the attraction. With our new Music Festival experience, we’ve captured the magic of live music, with legends you literally could not see perform together anywhere else, in a way that only Madame Tussauds London could. There’s also the added bonus of no muddy fields or main-stage clashes to contend with.”

Click here for details concerning tickets.

Emily Eavis, one half of the Father-Daughter organisation team, took to her Instagram page to confirm the cancellation of the event.

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In May it was announced that a one-off event was being planned to replace the annual 5-day festival which Glastonbury normally held. The replacement event was due to take place in September of this year but was unfortunately terminated.
The September live music event was to be organised to replace the last two cancellations of the Festival due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions enforced due to the current health crisis. The September concert was to be called Equinox, the event organisers had a lot of ‘red tape’ to go through and eventually secured the necessary licenses and permissions from Mendip District Council to allow for 50,000 ticket holders to attend the autumn event. The event appeared to be approved albeit with over 50 conditions and provisions, the festival’s organisers and the team have not yet provided further details on the cancellation. The Instagram post from Emily Eavis is the main cancellation confirmation at this time.

This is not the first cancellation in which Glastonbury has issued, the cancellation of the rescheduled 2020 festival was announced by the Eavis’ in January. The announcement confirmed the event would not be going ahead and gave information on how ticket holders could attend next year’s event. The Festival released the following statement via their Twitter page. “With great regret, we must announce that this year’s Glastonbury Festival will not take place, and that this will be another enforced fallow year for us. In spite of our efforts to move heaven & earth, it has become clear that we simply will not be able to make the festival happen this year. We are so sorry to let you all down. As with last year, we would like to offer all those who secured a ticket in October 2019 the opportunity to roll their £50 deposit over to next year, and guarantee the chance to buy a ticket for Glastonbury 2022. We are very appreciative of the faith and trust placed in us by those of you with deposits, and we are very confident we can deliver something really special for us all in 2022! We thank you for the incredible continued support and let’s look forward to better times ahead. With love, Michael & Emily.”

The 2020 event would have been the 50th birthday of Glastonbury, both organisers were not deturbed in their celebrations however and wanted to still proceed with an anniversary event. Michael Eavis was keen to hold the event this autumn to match the Festival’s birthdate of its first event on 18th September 1970, Eavis previously confirmed his hopeful plans for the eventually cancelled event. “I would like to do something in September. I would like to do something smaller somewhere around the anniversary date of when we started, which was the 18th of September 1970. I would like to consider possibly doing something around that time.” Eavis was then asked if he would recruit big acts to perform, to which he replied. “Yes, but I do need to get reassurance from the ethics people.”

Glastonbury is one of the most iconic institutions in music history, the festival has been leading the way in live entertainment and legendary live performances for over half a century. It is no surprise that the festival’s founder Eavis wanted to celebrate its 50th birthday with a bang.
The festival has seen line-up’s full of rock, soul, folk and pop performers, known for its inclusivity the festival has catered for every niche market and genre throughout the decades. The festival’s first event was held the day after Jimi Hendrix’s tragic death, some may think that it was this tragedy that inspired Eavis to launch the new festival, but his inspiration came from a Blues Festival held at the Bath and West Showground. The initial event’s attendance is not even half of the 250,000 attendees at 2019’s event, in 1970 the attendance was 1,500 ticket-holders who paid £1 to attend the festival. Along with the attendance at the festival, the £1 ticket also entitled the holder to free milk from the farm. Considering that the concert was the festival’s first event the line-up was an impressive who’s who of the era’s popular music, the line-up included T-Rex frontman Marc Bolan, Stackrudge, Quintessence, Keith Christmas and Scottish folk musician Al Stewart.

Whilst the festival’s annual Glastonbury event and proposed September concert are no longer going ahead, music and culture fans will still be able to have a Glastonbury-like experience.  During the cancellations of the farm’s events, Michael and Emily Eavis have concentrated on another side of their business. The duo has opened up the famed event location, Worthy Farm, as a campsite open to the public. The new business venture is called Worthy Pastures and allows visitors to connect with one of music’s most iconic venue locations. Entertainment and activities provided to guests include the Pyramid Field, a SUNDAY Craft Market, Walking Routes, Cycling Paths, Table Tennis and the stone circle.

Click here for more information on Worthy Pastures.

Whilst having only lived their for a year (1968-1969) when sharing with then girlfriend Kathy Etchingham, he often regarded it as a highly significant place in his life saying that:

“This is my first real home of my own.”

The flat is also next door to the former house of esteemed German composer Georg Frideric Handel; who lived in the apartment for 40 years. When tickets are released you will be able to visit both legendary musicians former abodes for the price of one! Tickets will be available just next month on November 2nd.

Manager of Handel House Alistair Stranack had this to say on the matter:

“It is hard to think of another home in the world with such a concentration of musical genius. Our research into the building and Hendrix’s circle of friends and acquaintances has enabled us to present an image of what life was like in his time at Brook Street.”

“While it has been a pleasure to have been working in Jimi’s bedroom for the past few years, it is even more pleasing to be able to throw it open to everybody else.”

The former flat of Hendrix has been renovated to look exactly as it did in the later 1960s; the renovation has taken two years and cost £2.4m. Whilst of course Hendrix is the most celebrated guitarist of all time and often regarded as the greatest, it will still be interesting to see whether the museum was worth a £2.4m investment and renovation.

If you are planning on going then what better to listen to to get in the mood than arguably Jimi’s most famous song (incidentally a cover of Bob Dylan):

Michael Lang, who worked alongside Artie Kornfield to create one of the most influential events of music history in Bethel, New York, back in 1969, is considering this anniversary to celebrate fifty years of culture and music described as “3 Days of Peace & Music”, and bring it back into the modern age.

400,000 young people gathered to a rainy field between august 15-17th 1969 to attend the festival which Rolling Stone Magazine would claim as one of the “50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll”.

Bands such as Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Crosby Stills and Nash and Jimi Hendrix all played to a crowd of counterculture hippies and rockers in opposition to the Vietnam War and President Nixon.

The event itself had its fences cut on the opening night and due to a lack of time to prepare, the organisers had no choice but to allow the waves of music fans into the 600 acre dairy farm. Since then Woodstock has been replicated in 1979, ’89, ’94, ‘99’ and in 2009 with the latter being dubbed “heroes of Woodstock tour” which celebrated the 40th anniversary.

In 1999 a notorious riot broke out during sets of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Limp Bizkit and four people having been raped. Due to the violence Lange has expressed that he “does not believe the failings of 1999 would thwart the future event.

Lang told Rolling Stone that there would not be a 45th anniversary this year, but the 50th should certainly be a possibility.