‘A dark day for women’: Roe vs Wade overturning by Supreme Court sparks anger among Glastonbury artists

Phoebe Bridgers, Idles, Olivia Rodrigo and more have also condemned the decision

A number of artists performing at Glastonbury 2022 have condemned Friday’s (24 June) US Supreme Court ruling overturning <em>Roe v Wade</em>.

The Republican-controlled Supreme Court ruled yesterday in favour of a Mississippi law that outlaws abortion at 15 weeks of pregnancy while also overturning key precedents established by the 1973 decision in Roe v Wade as well as an affirming decision in 1992’s Planned Parenthood v Casey.

During her landmark headline set at Glastonbury Festival on Friday (24 June), Billie Eilish addressed the decision, saying it was a “really dark day for women in the US”.

“I’m just gonna say that because I can’t bear to think about it any longer in this moment,” she told the crowd at the festival’s main Pyramid Stage.

Earlier in the day, fellow US artist Phoebe Bridgers led chants of “f*** the Supreme Court” during her Glastonbury set.

“All these irrelevant old motherf***ers trying to tell us what to do with our f***ing bodies. F*** it,” she said.

Joe Talbot of the British rock band Idles also mentioned the ruling while on stage, saying it had taken the country back to the “Middle Ages”.

Shortly after news of the Supreme Court decision broke, Talbot said: “They just reversed the laws back to the middle ages in America where they’re just deciding whether it should be illegal to have an abortion or not.

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“Long live the open minded. Long live my mother and long live every single one of you,” he added, before the band broke into their song “Mother”.

During her Glastonbury set on Saturday evening (25 June), Rodrigo joined stars including Phoebe Bridgers and Billie Eilish to speak out against the ruling.

Partway through her performance on the Other Stage, the “driver’s license” singer brought out special guest Lily Allen for a rendition of Allen’s 2009 hit “F*** You”.

Introducing the song, Rodrigo said: “I’m devestated and terrified [by the recent ruling] and so many women and girls are going to die because of this and I wanted to dedicate this next song to the five members of the Supreme Court who showed us at the end of the day they truly don’t give a s*** about freedom.”

After huge applause from the audience, the 19-year-old went on to address the individuals specifically, stating: “This song goes out to the justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh.”

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Standing next to Rodrigo, Allen was seen giving the middle finger.

“We hate you guys!” said Rodrigo, before the pair launched into the expletive-filled track.

Friday (24 June) saw Billie Eilish become the festival’s youngest ever solo headliner, delivering a set that was praised in The Independent’s review.

Read The Independent’s live coverage from Glastonbury here.