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White Stripes
The White Stripes frequently amaze fans and critics alike with the sheer volume of noise these two beautiful musicians produce! Detroit duo Jack Gillis, (guitar & vocals) & Meg White, (drums) have been together since 1997 but didn't leap into the public eye until 2001's 'White Blood Cells' caused some critics to hail them as the saviours of rock 'n' roll.
Despite false rumours of the pair being brother and sister and then evidence of a marriage license and divorce certificate, they were never married. But they did go out with each other back in 1999. The last time the band played Glasto was in 2002 when they played a late afternoon slot on the Pyramid stage.
Fatboy Slim
Glastonbury just wouldn't be Glastonbury without the inimitable Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim. Over the years Norman's DJ sets have been woven in to the festival folklore with him popping up with his record box all over the place including Lost Vagueness and the Sunday slot on the Radio 1 soundsystem.
This year Fatboy Slim unleashes his brand of giant party tunes in the headline slot on the Other Stage on Friday night.
Kick starting his music career as bass player in the House Martins, Norman went on to record under the Pizzaman and Freak Power guises before settling as Fatboy Slim in 1996. Since then his family friendly dance music has won him millions of fans and annoyed the purists alike.
The Killers
The Killers have had an amazing 12 months since playing an afternoon slot on the New Bands tent at last year's festival.
The Las Vegas four piece's fantastic debut album, 'Hot Fuss', hit No. 1 in the charts, some six months after it was first released, they were nominated for two Brit awards and they won the NME award for Best International Newcomer.
The jump to the Pyramid stage should win lead singer Brandon Flowers and the band a whole new legion of fans.
Royksopp
Svein Berge and Torbjorn Brundtland otherwise known as Royksopp took the dance scene by storm with the relase of their 1 million selling debut 'Melody AM' at the end of 2001. The following year saw them go on tour with the likes of Basement Jaxx and Moby as well as headlining at Somerset House.
2003 saw them play Glastonbury for the first time and this year they make a triumphant return to the festival to play the 'sunset' slot on the Other Stage on Friday.
With a stunning second album 'The Understanding' due for release in July their performance this year could well be a contender for 2005's best.
Mylo
A native of the Isle of Skye, Mylo has taken the music world by storm with his crowd-pleasing electronica.
His debut album "Destroy Rock 'n' Roll" was regarded by many in the music press as the key dance release of 2004 and singles from it continues to chart well and attract a remix CV to rival any of the heavy weights.
His gruelling tour schedule over the last 12 months has taken him around the world and has fast earnt him and his band the title of the 'hardest working group in dance'.
Having supported Faithless on their UK tour earlier in the year the Mylo live show is well honed and is sure to go down well with the Glastonbury crowd.
Doves
One of the UK's leading bands who have achieved the rare feat of getting better and better with each of their three albums. Passionate about the North of England their music is far from grim.
The Manchester trio comprise of Jimi Goodwin (bass/vocals) & twin brothers Jez (guitar) & Andy Williams (drums) - all three were previously known as Sub Sub, who had a top 3 hit in 1993 with "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)"
Their recent album, 'Some Cities', has been hailed as album of the year.
The Zutons
After signing to the same label as The Coral in 2002, this Liverpool five piece spent much of the following year recording their debut album and developing their distinctive style with the help of Ian Broudie of Lightning Seeds fame.
Despite not troubling the singles chart top ten, the self styled Zombie soul music of The Zutons managed to give them a total of five top forty hits in 2004 and more importantly a Mercury Music Prize nomination.
Having just completed a UK tour, Summer 05 promises to be eventful for The Zutons as they provide UK support for R.E.M and prepare for their Pyramid Stage debut.
Bloc Party
Bloc Party have slotted nicely into the space left by Franz Ferdinand while they work on their hotly anticipated second album as the UK's premier punk-art collective.
Without doubt one of the biggest bands of 2005, Bloc Party are still walking tall from their debut album 'Silent Alarm', plus Kele's recent vocals on the Chemical Brother's track 'Believe' has added an extra dimension to their ever growing appeal.
Babyshambles
To say that Pete Doherty's reputation precedes this band would be an understatement of epic proportions. In recent months the band have had to cancel several major performances for various Pete related reasons; however the future is looking a little more positive for Babyshambles.
With the imminent release of their debut album and scheduled performances at most of the major UK festivals, Babyshambles are set to have a busy summer.
The band are playing twice at this year's event. On the Other Stage on Friday and at the Left Field on Saturday.
The Subways
This is most definitely the Subways' year. Playing on the Pyramid stage is a pretty huge gig, but those of you who haven't heard of them will be surprised to know that this is their second year playing Glastonbury. They won the new bands competition in 2004, and this year Michael Eavis has bumped them up from the New Bands stage to the opening spot on the Pyramid Stage. (The lucky things get to play twice this year - they're also playing the John Peel stage on Saturday).
Hailing from Welwyn Garden City, they caught the attentions of John Peel and later Zane Lowe. Their first single peaked at 25 in the charts in March this year, and Lightening Seed Ian Broudie is producing their debut album. And they're still only teenagers.
The Tears
This year will see Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler return to the Vale Of Avalon together for the first time since Suede’s legendary appearance back in 1993.
Their headline set on the second stage was the show where they finally proved the tag “best new band in Britain” was much more than just hype.
But, much more than that, as they debuted "Still Life" in the encore and provided the festival with a rare moment of beauty amidst the chaos, they proved that cutting edge alternative music could conquer the wide-open spaces – and Glastonbury bills have been all the better for it, ever since.
This year, their new venture The Tears have a similarly poised headline slot on The John Peel Stage and the assembled Beautiful Ones will be hoping that lightning does, indeed, strike twice (although not literally, please, weather gods).
More Glastonbury
Elsewhere on bbc.co.uk
- Radio 1 at Glasto
- 6 Music at Glasto
- BBC Somerset at Glasto
- Asian Network at Glasto
- Glasto '04 pics
- Radio 4 goes to Glastonbury
Elsewhere on the web