Watch Florence And The Machine cover Times Like These by Foo Fighters at Glastonbury 2015: Grohl also dedicated the song Walk to his plastic surgeon, James, who fixed his broken leg.

A secret act has been lined up to fill the empty slot ahead of headliner Florence And The Machine tonight, Glastonbury Festival organisers revealed, as the main stages opened for the first day of music.

The supporting slot had been left vacant after a last-minute schedule change which saw the band promoted to the coveted top spot when the Foo Fighters were forced to pull out last week.

Swathes of crowds gathered in front of the main stages to watch them launch in to action for the first time this morning, with 90s indie-pop band The Charlatans revealed as the surprise opening act on the Other Stage.

The 135,000 campers have enjoyed sunshine and warm weather since the gates opened on Wednesday but today has seen brief and light showers across the Somerset site.

Florence And The Machines

Singer-turned-activist Charlotte Church, who has been in the anti-austerity movement, interviewed punk rock protesters Pussy Riot on top of a Army-style truck in front of a crowd of thousands.

After overpowering a mock Russian soldier representating Vladimir Putin’s administration, Russian feminists Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina explained the history of their movement, their time in prison and urged the crowds to support Ukraine.

Church said: “It was awesome, they are totally, unbelievably inspiring. They inspire a generation.”

Other star acts set to perform today are Mark Ronson, The Proclaimers, Rudimental and Mary J Blige before Florence And The Machine steps in for a performance on the famous Pyramid stage.

Speaking in The Guardian today, Florence Welch made a light-hearted reference to Foo Fighter lead singer Dave Grohl’s leg injury and her own troubled love life.

“It’s the broken hearts and broken limbs that led to Glastonbury,” she said. “It’s a quite strange and quite cracked way to get there. Literally. If I’d had six months knowing that I was going to do this (headline slot), I think I would slowly have descended in to madness.”

Glastonbury organisers have also confirmed that Azealia Banks has cancelled her performance tomorrow afternoon and has been replaced by The Strypes, while today Bastille filled a “to be announced” slot.

Florence + The Machine stunned crowds with a theatrical headline performance at Glastonbury Festival which ended with her running off stage in her bra.

Singer Florence Welch made it clear she was deserving of the coveted top slot handed to her at the last-minute after Foo Fighters were forced to pull out.

She won crowds over with an energetic set which saw her enter the stage barefoot and leave stripped down to her bra and trousers.

She gave haunting renditions of her most loved songs including an a capella version of Shake It Out, followed by You Got The Love and Dog Days Are Over.

She dedicated a cover of Foo Fighters’ hit Times Like These to singer Dave Grohl who was forced to pull out of the festival last week after he broke his leg.

She told the crowd: “Dave Grohl if you’re listening – we love you. We’re sending you so much love.”

She embraced front row fans on several occasions during her energetic performance which saw her running and dancing across the stage and in one spontaneous moment serenaded an elated look-a-like.

At one point after collapsing on the floor she told the crowd: “My whole family are here and they’re so scared I’m going to break something.”

Campers who had earlier braved downpours and were battling muddy fields roared as she stepped on to he world-famous Pyramid stage in a sparkling trouser suit.

She followed indie band The Libertines, a secret addition to the line up to fill the space created by Florence + The Machine’s promotion.

Crowds cheered as the once troubled frontman Pete Doherty walked on stage grinning and holding a bottle of beer.

American hip-hop artist Kanye West will take his turn on the famous stage as headline act tonight, a billing which was met with some controversy for the traditionally rock and roll festival.

Kim Kardashian tweeted that she has “touched down in London Town”, a hint that she is getting ready to support her rapper husband.

After two days of beautiful sunshine and highs of 22C ((71.6F) the infamous Glastonbury weather eventually arrived, with intermittent heavy downpours drenching campers just as the first bands took to the stage yesterday.

Wellies were put to good use as fields quickly turned to mud but bursts of sunshine helped soaking campers to dry off, with more warm and dry weather forecast for today.

Despite the typical Glastonbury weather, crowds still turned out in their thousands to watch the live music including Mary J Blige, Jungle, The Vaccines, Motorhead and Bastille – a last-minute addition to the line-up, on the main stages.

Celebrities spotted enjoying the diverse festival include One Direction members Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson, actress and former girlfriend of Prince Harry Cressida Bonas and TV presenter Jonathan Ross.

World-renowned physicist Professor Stephen Hawking cancelled his appearance at Glastonbury due to “personal reasons”, Cambridge University said.

Florence And The Machine Video

The scientist, who has amyoltrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) had been due to appear at the Kidz Field tomorrow morning. Other major artists who will perform today include Paloma Faith, Pharrell Williams, Deadmau5, Jessie Ware, Suede and the Maccabees.