PA Images/Stormzy/InstagramStormzy has shared the heartfelt texts he received from his mum after making history with his moving Glastonbury set.
The 25-year-old performed on the Pyramid Stage at Worthy Farm on Friday (June 28) and in doing so he became the first black British solo artist to headline the festival.
His set was broadcast on BBC Two and he opened the show while wearing a stab-proof vest emblazoned with the Union Jack which had been created for him by Banksy, presumably to make a statement about knife crime in London.
A brief history of how black ballet dancers used to have to effectively dye their ballet slippers to match their skin colour was presented as he performed Don’t Cry For Me and later Coldplay frontman Chris Martin came out to perform Blinded By Your Grace- Part 1 alongside the headliner.
No idea how it came across on telly but, live, Stormzy’s headline set was an EXTRAORDINARY piece of stagecraft. Like a one-man Olympic opening ceremony. People around the crowd were literally in tears. First black British solo headline act and he totally aced it. JL
— Glastonbury Live (@GlastoLive) June 28, 2019
Tonight @Stormzy made history by being the first black solo British headliner at Glastonbury. The performance was political, iconic and the ballet was beautifully powerful. It won't just go down in Glastonbury history – it'll go down in our country's cultural history. #Glasto2019 pic.twitter.com/pmRt5OuqBI
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) June 28, 2019
Heck of a statement. Stormzy arrives at #Glastonbury in a stab proof vest in the colours of the Union Jack 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/Jn63PXEFfo
— Mehdi Juma (@MehdiJuma) June 28, 2019
Dozens of people took to social media to praise the singer for his epic performance but I don’t think anyone was quite as impressed as Stormzy’s mum, who described the 25-year-old as her ‘hero’ in her text messages.
The Big For Your Boots singer shared the messages on Twitter. They read:
Good morning my hero you made me so so proud, you’ve made me a very proud mum never forget that, the phone calls [and] text messages was [sic] so overwhelming, I just want to see you and hug you.
And also I am going to dance for you at church.
— CROWN OUT NOW 👑 (@stormzy) June 30, 2019
Stormzy shared some emotional words of his own on Instagram after his set, where he recalled some of the highlights of the show and thanked everyone who had helped to make it happen.
He wrote:
Last night I headlined Glastonbury in a stab-proof vest custom made by the greatest, most iconic living artist on planet earth, the one and only BANKSY.
I opened my set with words of encouragement from my hero and ultimate inspiration and the greatest rapper to ever grace planet Earth Jay-Z.
I got to sing with the most incredible and legendary man I know – Chris Martin – a man who’s genius I am so in awe of that it makes me go to studio and try to emulate him.
The caption continued:
To my band and to my amazing choir who have worked tireless and given this their everything all whilst sounding flawless, effortless and amazing I appreciate you all very much I can’t do this without you.
To Ballet Black, the grace, beauty and feeling you blessed the world with yesterday was felt in the hearts of millions.
THANK YOU GUYS, THANK YOU GOD. I am proud of myself and I feel blessed and fulfilled and purposeful. Your Glastonbury 2019 headliner, over and out.
I’m sure Stormzy is feeling the love from thousands of people across the nation this weekend; his performance will certainly be remembered for years to come!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.