Isle Of Wight Festival 2016

Festival guide

To mark four decades since the birth of punk, this year’s Isle Of Wight Festival will feature some of the movement’s main players, including Iggy Pop, The Damned and Buzzcocks. Elsewhere on their big-name bill you’ll find Queen and Richard Ashcroft rubbing shoulders with Busted and Jess Glynne, plus electronic treats from Faithless. Explore the line-up below.

Top picks

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    Iggy Pop

    Usually, the appeal of watching heritage acts live lies exclusively in hearing the big hits. Not so Iggy Pop. Off the back of his career-beating collaboration with Josh Homme and Matt Helders, we’re as excited to hear the likes of ‘Gardenia’ and ‘American Valhalla’ as we are ‘Lust For Life’, ‘Sister Midnight’ and old Stooges classics. Combine all that with the fact he just received a brace of five-star reviews for his recent Royal Albert Hall show, and Iggy Pop’s set promises to be one of the weekend’s highlights.

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    Richard Ashcroft

    If the idea of a mass singalong to ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ on a warm summer’s evening doesn’t sound pretty dreamy to you, you might want to check yourself for a heart. If it does, then head to the Isle Of Wight Festival where you can expect The Verve’s former-frontman to perform the finest Urban Hymns-era material, plus selected songs from his four solo albums to date. We'd also suggest you “take it easy” on the day, because ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’ is enough of a tearjerker stone-cold sober.

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    The Kills

    The Kills’ status as the sole survivors of the early 00s garage-rock revival can be credited to two key factors: consistently high levels of quality control and a flat-out refusal to slump into self-parody. Indeed, Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince have consistently evolved their sound, adding frazzled electronics to their staple palette of visceral garage-rock and scuzzy blues. Don’t miss the duo at Isle Of Wight, where they’ll be showcasing the highlights of their latest LP, Ash & Ice, alongside a smattering of classics.

Big names

Don't miss

More from the line-up

  • Stereophonics

    Interview

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    We still like going out and getting drunk together. That’s a bonus, because most bands f***king hate each other.

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  • Lissie

    Interview

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    Subjecting yourself to rejection and criticism and other people’s expectations: that’s not why I started.

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  • Everything Everything

    Interview

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    I wanted the record to be an absolute sledgehammer... I had to be talked down a bit.

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