Beyonce added as Glastonbury headliner, signals imminent new album

The full — and very extensive — lineup for Glastonbury, one of the world’s largest music festivals, has been formally announced. Among The major rock headliners like U2, Coldplay and Morrissey is another global superstar, of the pop/R&B/hip-hop sort: Beyonce.

The singer will stage on June 26, the final night of the event, warmed up by Plan B and Pendulum. The Daily Mirror is already claiming that Jay-Z, Chris Martin, Kanye West and Gwyneth Paltrow with be special-guesting during the set.

And, if you’ll notice, it’s the only concert that Bey has on slate.

The announcement is a buoy to talk that Mrs. Jay-Z is finally ready to follow-up “Sasha Fierce” this summer. In the past two weeks, there’s been some news and rumors from her camp, including a Sony Music exec in Australia telling the Daily Telegraph that Queen B will have a new album out in late June.

“It was just amazing,” Denis Handlin said of the songs previewed. “She came in and played us six tracks from the album. She wants to do a big tour off the back of this record, which will include Australia. These songs, the best description I can give is groundbreaking; she’s gone to another level.”

Then, fuzzy photos and descriptions of a video shoot arrived from the Mojave: fansites were reporting that Beyonce is working on a clip for forthcoming single “Girl,” or “Girls (Who Rule the World),” and the filming involves something like 200 female African dancers (and two men).

A request for more information or confirmation on a June release date to a Beyonce spokesperson was not returned.

Today, a 15-second clip of music rumored to be “Girl” has been making the rounds. Hear it below. It seems to be sampling “Pon de Floor” by Immaculate Noise favorite Major Lazer, who’s already been all over Bey’s “Halo” before.

HitFix has confirmed that she’s collaborated with Odd Future’s Frank Ocean on the album, as well as with Sleigh Bells, Major Lazer’s Diplo and S1.

All this, after Beyonce and her father/manager Matthew Knowles parted ways in their business relationship last month.

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