Billie Eilish announced as Glastonbury Festival 2022 headline act

Teenage singing sensation will be the youngest solo headliner in the festival's history

Billie Eilish is the first singer to be announced as a headliner for Glastonbury 2022. AFP

Billie Eilish is the first headliner to be announced for the 2022 Glastonbury Festival.

After two years away, the popular English festival is set to make its return next June, with the bad guy singer topping the bill on one of the three days of music.

The singer hinted that she is heading to Worthy Farm next summer, when she posted a picture of herself wearing a Glastonbury hoodie, with the caption "2022", on her Instagram story.

It was then confirmed by Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis, who tweeted, "We couldn’t be happier to announce that the wondrous @billieeilish is headlining the Pyramid on the Friday at next year's Glastonbury Festival, becoming the youngest solo headliner in our history. This feels like the perfect way for us to return and I cannot wait!"

Eilish, who will be 20 years old next summer, will be the youngest headliner to secure a Glastonbury headline slot. She will be the first female headliner since 2016, when Adele took to the stage, although Taylor Swift was booked for the 2020 festival, which did not take place owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2020 and 2021, the festival was held virtually. Past performances aired on British television last year, and a line-up including Coldplay, Haim, Jorja Smith, Michael Kiwanuka, Damon Albarn and George Ezra performed from Worthy Farm in a live-streamed event this summer.

In April, it was announced that Glastonbury Festival was to join 2,700 museums, theatres, cinemas and arts venues in receiving a share of £400 million ($542m) in grants and loans from the British government to help it survive the Covid-19 pandemic.

Glastonbury, the largest greenfield music festival in the world received £900,000 ($1.2m) to help carry it through to 2022.

"This grant will make a huge difference in helping to secure our future," founder Michael Eavis and daughter Emily said.