The pop star slams critics who called her Glastonbury set “the worst” over autotune and live style

Charli XCX has fired back at critics who called her Glastonbury 2025 performance a disaster, dismissing complaints over her use of autotune as “the most boring take ever”.

The 31-year-old pop provocateur closed out the Other Stage on Saturday (28 June) with a brash, high-octane set celebrating her chart-dominating Brat era. But while fans at Worthy Farm raved about her performance, online viewers—particularly those tuning in via BBC iPlayer—were divided.

Social media lit up with brutal takes, with some calling her “the worst performer at Glastonbury” and others slamming the set as “one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in my life”. Much of the backlash targeted her vocal delivery, which leaned heavily on deliberate autotune effects.

By Sunday (29 June), Charli had seen enough. She took to X (formerly Twitter) to address the critics head-on.

“Like the idea that singing with deliberate autotune makes you a fraud or that not having a traditional band suddenly means you must not be a ‘real artist’ is like, the most boring take ever. yawn, sorry just fell asleep xx,” she wrote, capping it with her signature sarcastic tone.

Her defence echoed the unapologetically synthetic aesthetic of her Brat album and tour. From its industrial beats to glitchy vocal textures, Charli has embraced pop’s artificiality as part of her artistic statement—one that blurs the line between club euphoria and performance art.

At Glastonbury, she strutted through a setlist stacked with crowd-pleasers like “Von Dutch”, “365”, “Speed Drive”, and older bangers like “Vroom Vroom”, dressed in head-to-toe leather and joined by dancers in green wigs. The stage design was minimalist but visually jarring, with strobes and LED chaos. It was intentionally alienating to some, and for many fans, that’s the point.

In response to viewers accusing her of faking it, Charli added: “It’s 2025. We’ve had vocoders for decades. Cher literally changed pop forever in 1998 with ‘Believe’. This is not a new idea, babes.”

Her label-defying approach has always split opinion. From her hyperpop origins to her mainstream flirtations, Charli XCX has never aimed to please everyone. And following her chart-topping success with Brat, she’s clearly leaning harder into provocation.

Still, the criticisms struck a nerve in parts of the pop discourse. Some fans accused older viewers of not understanding her performance language, dubbing the backlash a “boomer vibe”. Others praised her for pushing the boundaries of what a live pop set should look and sound like.

NME, in its coverage of the festival, called her Glastonbury moment “the five brattiest minutes of the weekend”—meant as a compliment to her chaotic, self-aware swagger.

Back on X, Charli wrapped up her commentary with a final dig: “Everyone’s always so obsessed with proving ‘realness’ but like… I’m literally right here, being iconic. next!”

Whether you loved it or hated it, one thing is clear—Charli XCX isn’t going to change her tune for anyone.