by Carina Sward
Billie Eilish at Reading 2019. Credit: Jenn Five
The original line-up of 2020 was announced earlier in February of this year with three headliners — Stormzy, Liam Gallagher and Rage Against the Machine — with confirmed female acts across the weekend looking pretty sparse. However, with the unprecedented global pandemic that left us feeling a little more than a bit windswept, Reading and Leeds understandably cancelled the annual August bank holiday festival — since social distancing in a mosh pit would prove to be very difficult. As the end of summer quickly approached, the official Reading & Leeds Fest Twitter page (@OfficialRandL) announced previous performances across numerous years would be available on BBC iPlayer for avid festival goers to sink their teeth into. A few throwback sets included Arctic Monkeys, Florence + the Machine, Billie Eilish, Haim, The 1975, Bring Me the Horizon, Blossoms, and Courteeners. While everyone was in high spirits, there seemed to be no better time than the present to reveal the 2021 line-up of the twin festival. With a different approach following the outbreak of Covid, Reading and Leeds boasted six headline acts across two stages with no clashes — Stormzy, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Post Malone, Disclosure, Liam Gallagher, and Queens of the Stone Age. Predominantly known for being a rock festival, over the years Reading and Leeds have expanded their representation of an array of genres including their traditional indie/rock, alternative, hip hop, rap, and electronic/house/dance, showcasing their capability in moving forward in the music industry. However, it is hasn’t gone unnoticed that there are no female headliners amongst the confirmed six. Festival goers have taken to social media to share their opinions on the lack of female musicians playing across the three days, with some Twitter users creating their own posters to demonstrate just how few women are performing, by removing men from the weekend. Although Charli XCX, Sigrid, Girl in Red, Nova Twins, and Bloxx were recently announced to take to the stages next year, the male dominated line-up still begs the question of why there are no female headliners, despite there being plenty of women within the music industry who are capable of taking that main stage slot.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Billboard’s Top 100 Artists at the end of 2019 had Ariana Grande feature second and Billie Eilish bagged third place, so there’s female talent out there. In 2019, a 17 year old Billie Eilish was due to perform the Radio 1 (NME) stage but following her global success, her set was moved to the main stage — leaving a gap that organisers didn’t even bother to fill since nobody would have been there anyway. The Los Angeles singer-songwriter gave an effortless and iconic performance in the scorching sun and pulled in the biggest crowd ever seen at a Reading show. Haim headlined the Radio 1 stage in 2017 following the release of ‘Something To Tell You’ earlier that year. Now securing three albums, the latest ironically being named ‘Women in Music Pt. III,’ the trio — made up of sisters — haven’t secured a headline spot for 2021. Dua Lipa was last seen at Reading and Leeds festival in 2018 and took to the main stage with her self-titled album. Despite her release of ‘Future Nostalgia’ in May 2020, she is nowhere to be seen on the line-up either. Charli XCX is familiar with the festival, having performed on the dance stage in 2017 and later progressing onto the main stage in 2019. She’s set to return in 2021 but has still not bagged a headline slot, despite playing bigger stages as the years pass and showcasing her ability to draw in large crowds. With the increase of music genre portrayal, Reading and Leeds have ensured rap and hip hop performances have been demonstrated from the likes of Eminem, AJ Tracey and Aitch. Yet Cardi B — who had beaten Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ for the “largest on-demand audio streaming week ever for an album by a woman” — hasn’t yet represented her music from the same genre at the festival.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Universal Pictures It is also noted that over three consecutive festivals, Post Malone has made more appearances than women have headlined — the last female musician to co-headline the festivals was Paramore back in 2014. The American rapper had a main stage slot in 2018, headlined in 2019 and is set to headline the festival next year, too. Eminem, Muse and Metallica have headlined the iconic festival three times whilst Foo Fighters have secured the headline spot four times. With strong female artists talked about across social media platforms, the likes of Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Florence + the Machine, Wolf Alice, Lana Del Rey and Lady Gaga, (to name a few), all possess the ability to headline Reading and Leeds, and we are yet to see that happen.
Written by Carina Saward
Twitter: @blossomsstyles
Instagram: @carinaxo___
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