LONDON: American rapper Jay-Z answered his critics, notably Oasis's Noel Gallagher, with a performance at Britain's Glastonbury music festival that was received with rapturous cheers.
Striding on stage on Saturday night with a guitar slung over his shoulder, he led the crowd in a rendition of the Oasis song Wonderwall, smiling throughout. With his glamorous singer wife, Beyonce Knowles, in the crowd, his set included songs such as 99 Problems.
In a radical departure from the indie rock and guitar bands commonly associated with Glastonbury, the festival recruited the multi-millionaire US rapper and businessman to reach out to a younger audience.
Michael Eavis, who runs the festival on his dairy farm, admitted they had "stuck their necks out on this one".
Organisers staunchly defended the choice of Jay-Z, 39, despite slow ticket sales and sniping from Glastonbury veterans.
In April, Gallagher slammed the booking of Jay-Z to headline the festival, declaring: "I'm not having hip-hop at Glastonbury. It's wrong."
Jay-Z's battle to overcome the row was made easier when singer Amy Winehouse lived up to her controversial image.
Winehouse, who was admitted to hospital last month and reportedly diagnosed with emphysema, appeared to throw a punch at a fan who tried to grab her hair during her performance, which preceded the New York rapper's.
Her one-hour set, her first full show in Britain for seven months, drew up to 80,000 to the Pyramid Stage.
While reaction to Winehouse and Jay-Z's performances was largely positive, festival-goers expressed disappointment that rumoured surprise guests failed to appear.
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