Glastonbury 2014: Metallica to headline Pyramid Stage on Saturday

The US metal band join headliners Arcade Fire and Kasabian

The organisers of Glastonbury festival have ended months of speculation over who will headline the Pyramid Stage on Saturday, by announcing that Metallica are to fill the spot.

The US metal band will join Arcade Fire and Kasabian, who are headlining on Friday and Saturday, respectively, at the festival running from 25-29 June, in Somerset.

“I feel ecstatic,” Metallica's Lars Ulrich told BBC Radio 1. “We've been waiting for this phone call for years.”

The band, formed in 1981 by singer James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, released their last album, Death Magnetic, in 2008.

The confirmation squashes rumours that Oasis would be re-forming to headline on Saturday, after Liam Gallagher tweeted the letters 'OASIS LG' last month.

Other acts previously rumoured to be filling the slot including Outkast, following their set at US festival Coachella, and Kate Bush, who announced she would be playing 22 London late in the year.

Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis told BBC 6 Music: “[Metallica] wanted to play for a long, long time and they're one of the most amazing rock bands in the world, everywhere I go people say 'When are Metallica going to play?' I said, 'They will be here one day' and this is their time now.

"We've done it before (with Rage Against the Machine in 1994). People think that we're prone to have Radiohead and Coldplay and Oasis but when we had Jay Z a few years ago, people said he wasn't a Glastonbury act but we have all kinds of music."

As well announcing the long-awaited Saturday headliner, the festival’s curators also revealed that acts including the War on Drugs, Nick Mulvey, and English National Ballet will also be performing on the Pyramid Stage.

Other artists playing this summer include Dolly Parton, De La Soul, Manic Street Preachers and Ed Sheeran.

Read more: Festival guide 2014: Everything you need to know