Radiohead have been officially confirmed as the first headliners at the 2017 Glastonbury Festival, after a number of rumours strongly suggested that they would be one of the three bill-topping acts.

Glastonbury’s organiser Emily Eavis confirmed the news that many had been expecting on Thursday afternoon, posting on Instagram: “YES! Radiohead will be back at Worthy Farm and we really can't wait!”

Radiohead logoRadiohead's 'bear head' logo appeared on the grass near the Pyramid Stage this week

The festival’s official Twitter account soon posted a picture of the Radiohead ‘bear head’ logo, which had been painted onto the grass like a crop circle near the Pyramid Stage. Fans had been sent into overdrive when the BBC’s permanent Glastonbury webcam caught sight of two men painting a pattern earlier this week.

Radiohead will therefore play the opening Friday night of the festival on June 23rd 2017, representing the first time they will have headlined Glastonbury since 2003 when Moby (yes, really!) and R.E.M. were the other two headliners.

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They last performed in 2011, however, playing a “secret set” at The Park Stage. Their 1997 headline set, just days after their legendary album OK Computer was released, has often been held up as the greatest performance in the festival’s history.

Their ninth studio album, A Moon Shaped Pool, was released in May this year and reached the top of the UK charts. It was later nominated for the Mercury Prize, but lost out to Skepta last month.

Other rumoured headliners for the 2017 festival, which sold out in under an hour when tickets went on sale earlier in October, include The Stone Roses, Foo Fighters (who had to cancel their appearance in 2015) and Lady Gaga.

French electronic wizards Daft Punk had also been heavily linked, but Emily Eavis recently shot that suggestion down. “As ever, 99% of the rumours are untrue!” she said.

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