Kendrick Lamar has closed his Glastonbury set with an emotional speech thanking fans, followed by a performance of ‘Savior’.
At the end of the ‘Mr. Morale And The Big Steppers’ track, he repeated the chant: “They judge you, they judged Christ. Godspeed for women’s rights”, before promptly leaving the stage as fake blood poured down from his crown of thorns.
- READ MORE: Kendrick Lamar – ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ review: a cathartic, soul-baring autobiography
The chant is significant because of the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade (June 24). Multiple musicians have referenced the ruling during their Glastonbury sets, including Billie Eilish, Lorde and Phoebe Bridgers.
Lamar opened his set with an instrumental interlude from ‘Savior’ before launching into ‘United In Grief’. Elsewhere, he played ‘Count Me Out’ and ‘N95’, as well as hits like ‘Humble’ and ‘Alright’.
He was joined by dancers throughout, both men dressed in black trousers and white shirts like Kendrick, and women in flowing red dresses.
After performing ‘Love’, he said: “On behalf of me and my team, I want to thank every individual out here tonight. I consider y’all family, this shit is special, it means a lot to me.”
He continued: “I look out into the crowd and I see different creeds, different colours.
“I wear this crown. They judged Christ. They judge you, they judged Christ. We gonna continue to walk in his image.”
Lamar has spent the week in France, performing in Cannes on Monday night (June 20) as part of a Spotify event. He then moved on to Italy, where he performed at the Milano Summer Festival on Thursday night.
Kendrick kicking off a powerful performance! LS pic.twitter.com/JDUFHLCReL
— Glastonbury Live (@GlastoLive) June 26, 2022
‘Mr. Morale And The Big Steppers’ was released in May 2022. In a five-star review, NME described the album as “a cathartic, soul-baring autobiography”.
In a recent interview, Tyler, the Creator heaped praise on ‘Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers’, following the likes of Eminem, Lorde and Pharrell Williams, who have all shared positive comments about the album.
Lamar will bring his ‘The Big Steppers’ world tour to the UK and Ireland in November for a series of live dates. Baby Keem and Tanna Leone will provide support on all dates of the tour. Find any remaining tickets here.
Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more from Glastonbury 2022.
