Sophie Ellis-Bextor marks wedding anniversary with Glastonbury song dedication
The singer and her husband married in Italy in 2005 and became parents shortly after.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor dedicated a moment of her Glastonbury main stage performance to her husband Richard Jones as Sunday marks their 18th wedding anniversary.
The singer, 44, took to the Pyramid stage at midday on the final day of the festival in a metallic sparkly gold bodysuit with fringed sleeves to treat thousands of fans to an energetic collection of her hits song.
As she introduced her song Young Blood, the singer said it as a “very special day” as she is performing on the Glastonbury main stage as well as it being the significant day for the couple.
Ellis-Bextor said: “This song is possibly the most romantic song I’ve ever written.
“It came out of a conversation I had with my mum because she was married to my lovely step-dad John for over 30 years and she said this lovely thing how when you first fall in love with someone, no matter how many years go by, you still see each other the age you were when you first met and this is a song that came out of that.”
The singer revealed that she got her husband a card for the day but that he had gotten her a ring with today’s date engraved on it to mark the moment, adding: “I’m hoping I can make it up to him by dedicating this song to him today.”
Jones, the bassist from pop band The Feeling, and Ellis-Bextor married in Italy in 2005 and became parents shortly after.
They share five children together, Sonny, Kit, Ray, Jessie, and Mickey
After opening the set with Take Me Home, Ellis-Bextor said: “Glastonbury, oh my goodness, can you feel my sequinned leotard energy from where you’re standing?
“I was so excited to see you I didn’t even change out of my pyjamas I just came straight here.”
She hailed Glastonbury as the “best festival on the planet” and said her job was to build up the energy for the “magic day” of Sunday.
Throughout her set she ensured she lived up to task by dancing across the stage and getting the crowds to sing along to tracks including Lady (Hear Me Tonight) and Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love).
The pop star found a new audience in lockdown with her Kitchen Disco sessions which saw her livestream performances from her home of her own hits and classic songs.
Ellis-Bextor said she was amazed that the sessions had brought her to the Glastonbury main stage on Sunday.
She said the songs she would sing would be “love letters to people I was missing” and said she would like to give one of those letters to Glastonbury today before launching into Madonna’s Like A Prayer.
As her set was drawing to a close, she amplified the energy by getting the whole crowd to clap and jump together while she belt out Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer).
She asked the crowd if she had done her job of setting them up for the day, adding: “Thank you for being so gorgeous, can you apologise to the other artists like Cat Stevens and Elton for all the tinsel I’ve left on the stage but I did check and my boobs haven’t popped out so that’s a bonus.”
The singer closed out her set with her hit song Murder On The Dancefloor, asking them to sing back the lyrics to leave her with “one last memory”.
Before she left the stage, she took a photo of her and her band with the crowd in the background.
Ellis-Bextor was followed on the main stage by US country band The Chicks, who were originally named The Dixie Chicks.
