91Èȱ¬

How do you make your set at Glastonbury extra special? Bring on a legendary surprise guest of course! There have been many unexpected appearances over the years, it seems that everyone wants to get onto a Glastonbury stage even if they're not officially on the bill, and who can blame them?

Here are some of our favourite guest appearances at Glasto.

• Catch all the action of 91Èȱ¬'s Glastonbury Experience on iPlayer and Sounds

She's one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. He's one of music's most influential and innovative figures. But still, nobody could have possibly envisioned a Beyoncé and Tricky collab being on the cards, could they? Well, that's exactly what we got at Glastonbury 2011 when the Destiny's Child star brought out the trip-hop pioneer for a rendition of her hit Baby Boy. The Bristolian later revealed that even though the collab was "weird", he "had to do [it] because it’s so perverse, to go on stage with Beyoncé."

Glastonbury moments don't come bigger than this - His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet on the Pyramid Stage with the High Priestess of Punk, Patti Smith. Earlier in the day, the Dalai Lama had given a talk at the Stone Circle, but this was a chance to meet the full face of his adoring public, who sung happy 80th birthday to him. Scroll forward in the above clip to 3:30 for the beginning of his inspiring speech.

Miley Cyrus’ Pyramid Stage set last year was not short of hits - Wrecking Ball, We Can't Stop, Party in the USA, Mark Ronson collab Nothing Breaks Like a Heart and a cover/reimagining of Nine Inch Nails’ Head Like a Hole (recorded for a Black Mirror episode as On a Roll). But Miley made time for the biggest hit of 2019 too, bringing out Lil Nas X and her dad Billy Ray to perform Old Town Road and spark a massive Glasto singalong.

Also in 2019, Stormzy made history by becoming the first black British male to headline the Pyramid Stage. But he used his showstopping set to pay tribute to others too, shouting out artists that have paved the way for him (including Wiley and Skepta) and the new class of UK MCs (Little Simz, Dave and AJ Tracey included). Before launching into Vossi Bop, the second UK rap track to reach UK No.1, he invited Dave and Fredo on stage to perform the first UK rap chart-topper, Funky Friday. It was a defining moment for the genre.

"I want to share a moment with one of you guys on the stage," Dave said mid-way through his Glasto set in 2019. Glastonbury's all about moments, after all. Things you talk about with your mates on the walks between stages, and that send people scrabbling to social media if they missed it. Dave inviting a bucket hat-wearing teenage fan called Alex onto the stage to rap his track Thiago Silva (Alex, aptly, wearing Silva's Paris St Germain shirt, no less) was definitely one of those moments. Unmissable stuff.

When U2 had to pull out of their 2010 headline performance due to Bono suffering a back injury, disappointed fans were in for an unexpected treat. The Edge took to the stage with Muse during their headline set on the Sunday for a rendition of Where The Streets Have No Name.

Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave's 1995 duet Where The Wild Roses Grow has always been one of those pairings that on paper may seem a bit strange, but in reality somehow makes total sense. 24 years on, the duo revisited the classic collab again during Kylie's Legends slot set.

Mary J. Blige was so overawed by the (well deserved) reception she received in the rain on the Pyramid Stage earlier on the Friday leg of Glastonbury 2015, she was close to tears. But she had plenty of energy left in the tank for Mark Ronson, who invited her to sing his monster smash, Uptown Funk (originally featuring Bruno Mars) on the Other Stage later that day. Better still, Ronson also brought out legendary hip hop DJ Grandmaster Flash and Dr Funkenstein himself, George Clinton, 24 hours before he went head-to-head with Kanye headlining the West Holts stage with his supergroup, The Mothership Returns.

What better way to spend a momentous occasion than singing on stage, at your own festival with the legend that is Stevie Wonder? Well that's exactly what Michael Eavis did on Glastonbury's 40th birthday and what a wonderful celebration it was.

Few acts know Glastonbury better than Coldplay - the band have headlined the festival a whopping four times after all! That makes Chris Martin pretty much a Glasto veteran by this point. In 2016, not only did his band light up the fields of Worthy Farm with wrist bands that illuminated during their set, an insurgence of special guests brought the festival to an exuberant end too. Michael Eavis joined them for a rendition of My Way, Barry Gibb popped up for a little Bee Gees medley and Chris's kids and their cousins got up to help out with some backing vocals.

But he really kicked things up a notch in 2019, returning to the festival to pop up in other artists' sets. First, he joined Stormzy on the Friday to provide keys and backing harmonies to the #Merky MC's Blinded By Your Grace pt. 1 then returned on Sunday for Kylie’s Legends set to help out with Can’t Get You Out Of My Head. Glasto just can't get enough of him!

• Watch the Glastonbury Experience on iPlayer and listen on Sounds