American Express Presents BST Hyde Park

BST (or British Summer Time) made its debut appearance on the London festival scene in 2013 with two weekends of live music in Hyde Park. Every summer since, the festival has attracted huge international names to its Great Oak stage, with a wide array of acts scattered across smaller stages and even a huge fan zone for England’s World Cup semi-final in 2018.

The eclectic bill for the first year included The Rolling Stones (twice), Bon Jovi, Ray Davis, JLS, The Beach Boys, Lionel Richie and Jennifer Lopez. Elton John had been scheduled to appear but had to cancel due to illness. BST returned to London in 2014 with Arcade Fire, Black Sabbath, The Libertines, McBusted, Neil Young and Tom Jones headlining. The 2015 iteration included The Strokes, Blur, Kylie Minogue, The Who and Taylor Swift, alongside a family day on the final Sunday featuring Union J, Mr Tumble and Dick & Dom.

In 2016, BST played host to Massive Attack, Florence + The Machine, Carole King, Mumford & Sons, Take That and Stevie Wonder. The following year was headlined by Phil Collins, Green Day, Justin Bieber, Kings Of Leon, The Killers and Tom Petty, in what would be his last UK appearance before his death later that year.

The 2018 headliners were Roger Waters, The Cure, Eric Clapton, Michael Bublé, Bruno Mars and Paul Simon. Florence + The Machine returned for their second headline appearance the following year, alongside Stevie Wonder, Robbie Williams, Céline Dion and Barbra Streisand. The 2020 BST was supposed to feature Post Malone, Little Mix, Pearl Jam, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and Duran Duran but was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In October 2020, it was confirmed that Pearl Jam would be the first band since The Rolling Stones to headline two dates in one year at BST, with shows announced on 9 and 10 July 2021. BST also confirmed that 2021 would feature free events during the week between the festival’s two weekends.

In late November 2020, Duran Duran were revealed as headliners for a show on 11 July 2021 joined by friends Nile Rodgers & Chic and Grace Jones.