In June, he turned Metallica‘s long-standing dream of headlining Glastonbury into reality, as they brought heavy metal to the Pyramid Stage for the first time, and the band’s drummer Lars Ulrich has now labelled organiser Michael Eavis as ‘the greatest rock star in England’ when helping to honour his Outstanding Contribution To Live Music at the Music Industry Trusts awards.
“You know what? Michael Eavis is the greatest rock star in England,” Ulrich is quoted as saying. “You know why? Because he’s not trying to be. Michael Eavis is the centrepiece of the Glastonbury festival. And the Glastonbury festival is the centrepiece of the British music year.”
“So by definition, since Michael Eavis is the centrepiece of the Glastonbury festival, he’s the greatest rock star in England, primarily because he doesn’t try. And you know what? That’s the ultimate definition of cool.”
Michael Eavis has been at the helm of Glastonbury since 1970, and has just seen the festival break records once again when 135,000 tickets for next year were snapped up in less than half-an-hour of going on sale.