Glastonbury: Dalai Lama warms up for Lionel Richie

2015. június 28. /bbc.com/TibetPress

 

The Dalai Lama said he admired punk poet Patti Smith's voice and movement

The Dalai Lama has appeared on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury alongside US singer Patti Smith.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader received a huge cheer from the crowd, who later sang him Happy Birthday.

After the Dalai Lama delivered a speech about happiness and Smith finished her visceral punk poetry, 1980s pop star Lionel Richie was next on the stage.

Richie, whose hits include All Night Long, Hello and Dancing on the Ceiling, was in the mid-afternoon "legend" slot.

One of the most hotly anticipated acts on the final day of the famously eclectic festival, he opened with his 1983 hit single Running With The Night.

The sun came out for his appearance following rain earlier in the day, and the star said he had been warned about the festival's notorious weather.

"They said, 'When you get here it's going to be a lot of rain and mud,'" he told the crowd. "Well, you've got the mud."

Other artists sharing the main stage bill on Sunday include Paul Weller, Mercury Prize winners Alt-J and Irish singer-songwriter Hozier.

Rock veterans The Who will close the festival with a headline slot that has been brought forward by 30 minutes to 21:15 BST.

Singer Roger Daltrey said the band would "close this year's event with a bang" and take the audience on an "amazing journey" through their greatest hits.

The Dalai Lama used a festival T-shirt to shelter from the rain

The Dalai Lama's Glastonbury visit came a week before his 80th birthday. He began with an hour-long speech in the festival's Peace Garden, near the sacred stone circle, where he praised the event as "a festival of people, not governments or politicians".

He also made a rare comment on the escalating conflict in the Middle East, saying: "A lot of problems we are experiencing are our own creations. Violence is being created this very moment in Syria, Iraq and Nigeria.

"Humans killing each other in the name of religious faith. Unthinkable. Carry the message of love and tolerance and forgiveness."

He then took part in a climate change debate before his Pyramid Stage appearance, during which Patti Smith presented him with a birthday cake and led the crowd in its rendition of Happy Birthday.

The Dalai Lama said he was an admirer of the veteran singer-songwriter and her band.

"I very much appreciate those singers and musicians - most of you with white hair," he said. "That voice and physical action looks very beautiful.

"That gives me encouragement. Myself, now 80 years old, I should be more like you."

Other artists playing on Sunday include The Chemical Brothers, Ryan Adams and Charli XCX.

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