Charli XCX isn’t letting the haters ruin her Glastonbury glow.
The 32-year-old pop rebel shut down The Other Stage on Saturday night (June 28, 2025), drawing a massive crowd that reportedly rivaled the audience at Pyramid Stage headliner Neil Young. Her high-energy set, broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer, was met with rave reviews from fans on-site—but some online critics weren’t so kind.
Viewers at home took to social media to slam Charli for her heavy use of autotune, minimal live instrumentation, and backing tracks, with a few calling her performance “not real music.”
But Charli came ready with a fierce rebuttal.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), she wrote:
“Really enjoying these boomer vibe comments on Glastonbury performance. It’s super fascinating to me. Like the idea that singing with deliberate autotune makes you a fraud or that not having a traditional band suddenly means you must not be a ‘real artist’ is like, the most boring take ever. yawn sorry just fell asleep xx”
She continued:
“To be honest… I enjoy the discourse. IMO the best art is divisive and confrontational and often evolves into truly interesting culture, rather than being like kind of ok, easily understood and sort of forgettable.”
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Brat Forever: A Performance to Remember
Charli’s set was a bold, unapologetic celebration of her critically acclaimed album Brat, featuring standout tracks like “Apple,” “Von Dutch,” “360,” and “I Might Say Something Stupid.” Fans also got a dose of nostalgia with older hits “I Love It” and “Party 4 U,” as well as bonus track “Guess.”
In a viral moment, singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams appeared on the big screens to perform the TikTok-famous “Apple dance”, adding a fun, meta twist to the show.
To close out the night, Charli poured herself a glass of wine, then danced and thrashed around in staged rainfall, bringing high drama to an already electric set.
As she wrapped up, bold messages lit up the screens behind her:
“Thank you so much Glastonbury. So we burnt it down, does that mean Brat is finally over? Maybe it is. But probably not… I think you have all proven that Brat is forever. And honestly, I don’t know who I am if it’s over.”
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Real Artist or Not? Charli’s Art Is Here to Stay
Love her or hate her, Charli XCX isn’t playing by anyone’s rules—and she’s not interested in fitting into traditional definitions of what it means to be a “real artist.”
If anything, her Glastonbury set proved that Brat isn’t just an album—it’s a movement.
And like it or not, Charli XCX is leading the charge.
