9 most memorable Wireless Festival moments of all time

Wilreless festival

by Lily Smith & Eden-Olivia Lord |
Published on

How many of these Wireless Festival moments did you enjoy first-hand?

Since it’s 2005 debut, Wireless Festival has dabbled with different genres and swapped locations - but the urban music festival always promises a spectacular line-up and incredible atmosphere.

Young and old from all over flock to Wireless in their snapbacks and sunnies (whatever the weather) to witness legendary artists perform in the heart of one of the best cities in the world - London.

To get ourselves in the mood for this year's weekender, we’ve compiled a list of the most memorable moments from Wireless Festivals past. Here's our top nine...

Gallery

9 most memorable Wireless Festival moments of all time - STACKED

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CREDIT: Shutterstock

Wireless 2006 – Having a Bubble

In 2006, Wireless Festival was still finding its feet but boy was it mad. There were crazy performances from the likes of Gnarls Barkley and Goldfrapp - but The Flaming Lips took the prize when frontman Wayne Coyne began rolling over the crowd in a giant inflatable bubble. The rest of The Flaming Lips' performance was just as crackers – Wayne also sported giant paper-mache hands and danced with inflatable space men and men dressed as Santa Clause, whilst covering Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. Wowzers.

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CREDIT: Getty Images

Wireless 2008 – Rock on!

Wireless has hosted bands from all types of music genres over the years, from heavy grime to classic pop – but the 2008 festival was wonderfully rock-heavy. After performances from poppy Lily Allen, Mark Ronson and Jay-Z on the Saturday, Sunday's line-up included punk rock band Bowling for Soup, indie rocker Morrissey and crowd-pleasing Counting Crows who closed the day with epic renditions of their hits Mr Jones and Accidentally in Love – to the head-banging audience's delight.

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CREDIT: Getty Images

Wireless 2012 – Rain on Drake’s Parade

Wireless is a day festival that offers no camping facilities – but in 2012 it felt every bit the proper festival as the rain poured and festival-goers sloshed about in welly boots. And Drake made sure the crowd were still in high spirits – instructing them to chant "I don't give a f--k about the rain tonight" and welcoming pal Nicki Minaj on stage for a surprise appearance. Plus a 27-year-old Prince Harry was spotted in the crowd bopping away to Black Eyed Peas.

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CREDIT: Getty Images

Wireless 2013 – JT on a budget

Hearts all over Hyde Park melted when Justin Timberlake took to the stage and crooned his way through the show with his best hits. He covered Michael Jackson, welcomed surprise guest Jay-Z on stage and, in an electrifying moment, got 60,000 people singing Mirrors acoustically in unison. And if we couldn't love him more, JT hit the headlines the following day for reportedly staying in the local Premier Inn rather than the swanky five star hotels. #humble.

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CREDIT: Shutterstock

Wireless 2013 – Jay-Z brings out Rihanna

During 2013 not only did Justin Timberlake headline but so did Jay-Z. He rapped all his classics and on the final day back in 2013 the Suit and Tie singers joined forces and headline the entire evening together. Things went even further when Jay-Z surprised the crowd and brought our Rihanna!Yup.It's safe to say that was iconic and our ears are still ringing from that eventful night.

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CREDIT: Getty Images

Wireless 2014 – (Yet Another) Kanye rant

Perhaps the least shocking top moment – shock horror, Kanye West had a rant. After walking on stage in a metal mask, the Famous singer launched into a 20-minute tirade half way through his set and lamented about creative freedom, insulted Nike and praised wife Kim Kardashian while the disgruntled crowd reportedly heckled and booed. And as he had offered to perform two nights in a row when Drake pulled out due to illness, audience members were blessed with a Kanye monologue on Sunday night too. Lucky them.

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CREDIT: Getty Images

Wireless 2015 – Jessie YAY, Nicki Nay

Festival-goers were excitedly anticipating performances from headliners Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Avicii in 2015. But the festival's biggest delight was recently recovered Jessie J, who, despite having a mystery operation just weeks before and being advised to "cancel all shows" by doctors, stormed the stage and stole the show with her killer vocals and diva dance moves. Jessie had a stormer and wowed the crowd – but headliner Nicki Minaj ended up missing her entire performance because she was stuck at Luton airport. She redeemed herself though by joining her close pal David Guetta during his set and tore up the stage with their collaboration of 'Where Dem Girls At'.

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CREDIT: Getty Images

Wireless 2016 – Calvin, Craig & the Coolest Celebs

2016 was Wireless' best yet – and dominated by the industry's strongest and sexiest female hip hop artists including Jess Glynn, Fergie and Ms Dynamite. Craig David cemented his status as the King of Comebacks with an incredible Saturday night set and Calvin Harris proved that he wasn't letting his recent Taylor Swift heartbreak get to him and gave an electric performance with fireworks and confetti galore. Plus Rita Ora, Winnie Harlow and the (Will) Smith family were seen bopping in the crowd, making it officially the coolest place to be.

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CREDIT: Shutterstock

Wireless 2018

So Wireless Festival 2018 hasn't happened just yet but we're betting the crowd are in for a right treat! J. Cole, Stormzy, Giggs and Big Sean will be performing. DJ Khaled who will headline on Sunday has even teased he'll bring along friends which could range from Jay-Z and Beyonce to Justin Bieber.Eek!

Did you witness any of these Wireless moments IRL? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter.

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