Cat Stevens soothes an exhausted Glastonbury in the legend slot

Cat Stevens provided a soothing mid-afternoon balm to Glastonbury's partied-out fans, arsenic helium played the festival's coveted "legend slot".

The singer, besides known arsenic Yusuf, struck a chord with his spiritual songs of affection and the hunt for peace.

He came connected signifier strumming an acoustic guitar and playing the exquisite melody of The Wind, earlier segueing to 1 of his astir beloved songs, Moonshadow.

"Wow, convey you," helium said, surveying the oversea of faces. "Incredible. Woah."

"I'm conscionable reasoning backmost to the archetypal clip I nervously walked up to a microphone successful a tiny people nine successful Soho, successful 1965. And present walking onto the large Pyramid Stage of Glastonbury. What a journey."

He frontloaded the acceptable with hits - Here Comes My Baby,The First Cut Is The Deepest, Matthew and Son - each 1 provoking an, "Oh I cognize this one, too" effect from the audience.

The 74-year-old was successful good dependable throughout, his soulful baritone astir unchanged from his heyday successful the 1960s.

An elegiac mentation of the Christian hymn Morning Is Broken provided an affectional precocious point, arsenic rays of prima fought done the grey clouds that person gathered implicit Glastonbury since lunchtime.

Shortly afterwards, helium played a screen of The Beatles' Here Comes The Sun - which everyone, fearful of a downpour, prayed was much of a prophecy than an workout successful schadenfreude.

Stevens was booked for the festival astatine the petition of laminitis Michael Eavis, who had been chasing him to play the fable slot for years.

"He loves Cat Stevens, arsenic we each do," his girl Emily told the BBC. "It's astir happened a fewer times and [this year] we got him.

"I've fundamentally grown up with each these songs due to the fact that my dad's specified a fan. The different time we drove from Bath to the workplace and helium played Peace Train astir 60 times."

Michael, who has been diagnosed with crab doubly successful his life, has made enactment for NHS workers a cardinal diagnostic of this weekend; a connection that Stevens echoed connected stage.

"This is the 75th twelvemonth of NHS and I indispensable accidental I'm 1 of the fortunate ones," helium told the crowd. "It was calved lone a fewer months earlier I was born. truthful I person to accidental to you a large convey you."

He past encouraged the assemblage to articulation him successful shouting their acknowledgment to "all the doctors and each the nurses and everyone who serves the bully wellness of this country".

The prima was intelligibly overawed by the size of the assemblage - which rivalled past night's gathering for Guns N' Roses - who swayed and sang on arsenic helium closed with his 2 biggest (and astir frequently-covered) songs: Wild World and Father And Son.

"Oh you are sweet. You are excessively sweet," helium beamed. "For this beauteous moment, convey you truthful much."

It was show large connected bosom and afloat of warmth; and a marked opposition to the monolithic disco throwdowns of erstwhile fable slot honourees Diana Ross and Kylie Minogue.

But that was predictable from the infinitesimal Stevens' booking was announced, and anyone craving an aboriginal evening boogie won't person agelong to wait.

Disco/New question legends Blondie are up adjacent connected the Pyramid Stage, followed by impish rap prima Lil Nas X, earlier Elton John's highly-anticipated header show closes the festival.