Apart from the mud, probably the most famous appearances at Glastonbury over the past few years have been Tony Bennett, Rolf Harris and Dame Shirley Bassey. But many were surprised to see that the badge of honour of headlining this year’s event was awarded to former Destiny’s Child Beyonce Knowles.

Hardly keeping within the spirit of rock’s weekend of the year, Mrs Jay Z sang an incongruous Happy Birthday to a Sony Executive, fuelling more ammunition to critics of this appointment.

But all in all Glastonbury was a terrific show case for Beyonce’s fourth solo set, aptly entitled 4. As ever, Beyonce mostly sings of female strength, independence and liberation, and 4 is probably her most concise collection yet, certainly compared to the patchy B’Day and Sascha Fierce sets.

It consists solely of potential hit singles. In particular Run The World (Girls) is likely to join her canon of inspirational anthems with global impact, and Diane Warren’s I Was Here ensures that Ms Knowles’s new material will remain on the set list of the new series of The X Factor.

Rock fans may still be reeling over last weekend’s performance, but at least pop and R&B fans have a lovely new songbook to enjoy.