Ncuti Gatwa introduces “pop’s new crown princess” JADE at her theatrical, special guest-laden Glastonbury 2025 set

28 June, 2025

JADE just played her first-ever set at Glastonbury 2025 – check out all the highlights from her performance below.

The singer and former Little Mix star made her first appearance at the Worthy Farm site today (June 28), delivering a theatrical, dance-driven show after previously promising to “pull something out the bag” for her Woodsies Stage slot.

Her debut solo slot saw her introduced by Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa, who featured on her track ‘Midnight Cowboy’. After telling the crowd “pop’s new crown princess is in the building”, he introduced JADE with the opening few lines of their collab.

JADE performs at Glastonbury 2025. Credits: Derek Bremner for NME

She opened by storming through fan-favourites ‘IT girl’, ‘Midnight Cowboy’, ‘Wasabi’ and ‘FUFN (Fuck You for Now)’, during which she encouraged fans to chant “fuck you” to Reform UK, as well as “welfare cuts, transphobia, silencing protest, selling arms and justifying genocide”.

She went on to tell the crowd she couldn’t believe that “little old me is here on a Glastonbury Stage”.

“It is crazy,” she said. “I came here last year with my boyfriend, and I remember saying to myself, if I work really hard, if I keep writing music that speaks true to myself, maybe in like five years time I’ll get the gig – and here we are!

“So, because this is so so special for me, I want to make sure this is a show to remember for you guys and for me, so are you ready to do this?”

She then debuted new track ‘Plastic Box’ before taking on Madonna‘s ‘Frozen’, telling the Worthy Farm crowd: “This next one I’m gonna do for you is one of my favourite songs ever, by one of my favourite artists of all time. To me, this person is the undeniable queen of pop. She redefines herself every single time, and that’s absolute goals for me.”

From there, she stormed through several Little Mix numbers, including ‘Wasabi’, ‘Shoutout to My Ex’, ‘Sweet Melody’ and ‘Woman Like Me’. “I can’t begin to explain how grateful I am to those girls for literally changing my life,” she said of her time with the pop outfit.

“And who would’ve thought, eh? That we’d have a Little Mix girlie on the Glastonbury stage. But I can’t lie, it feels good doing my own songs – that I’ve written from my heart. That was the old me, and now it’s time for something new.”

JADE performs at Glastonbury 2025. Credits: Derek Bremner for NME

She then surprised fans by bringing out Confidence Man, with their heavily choregraphed performance of ‘Gossip’ ending with a spray of champagne. As the set drew to the close, an emotional JADE thanked fans for their support and shared her fears the tent would be empty.

“This has honestly been one of the best days of me life,” she said, rounding off her set with ‘Fantasy’ and ‘Angel of My Dreams’.

JADE at Glastonbury 2025 played:

‘IT girl’
‘Midnight Cowboy’
‘Wasabi’
‘FUFN (Fuck You for Now)’
‘Plastic Box’
‘Frozen’ (Madonna cover)
‘Shoutout To My Ex’
‘Sweet Melody’
‘Woman Like Me’
‘Touch’
‘Gossip’ (with Confidence Man)
‘Fantasy
‘Angel Of My Dreams’

She recently announced her debut solo album ‘THAT’S SHOWBIZ BABY!”, which will be out on September 12 and will feature collaborations with RAYE, Mike Sabath, Lostboy, Cirkut and Pablo Bowman.

She will also be touring the album across the UK in October. The run of shows kicks off in Dublin on October 8 before making stops in Belfast, Brighton, Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds, Birmingham and Newcastle. She will then sign off in London on October 19. Find tickets here.

As for Glastonbury, the festival has so far seen a surprise set from Lorde – who performed her new album ‘Virgin’ in full (and scored a five star review in the process), a spunky set from Wet Leg, Lewis Capaldi’s triumphant return for a secret set at the Pyramid Stage, a surprise appearance by Peter Capaldi at Franz Ferdinand’s set and more.

The 1975 headlined the Pyramid Stage last night (June 27), earning a four-star review from NME, which read: “With their one show of the year, “The 1975 from the Internet” clear the decks on their career so far to deliver a reminder of their chops for tunes and showmanship away from the headlines.”

The weekend continues with Charli XCX, Deftones, Olivia Rodrigo, The Prodigy, Rod Stewart and many more. Check out the full line-up and schedule here.

In other news, the BBC have also confirmed that they will be streaming Neil Young‘s headline set, after all.

Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more from Glastonbury 2025.

The post Ncuti Gatwa introduces “pop’s new crown princess” JADE at her theatrical, special guest-laden Glastonbury 2025 set appeared first on NME.