Who is Arlo Parks? The 21-year-old sensation set to play Glasto

At first glance, Billie Elish, Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar take center stage in the return of the world's hottest festival.

But headlines aside, you'll find a rising star who's had a whirlwind few years.

Anaรฏs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho, better known as Arlo Parks, will take Glastonbury Festival for the second time (third if you include the 2020 virtual experience) in 2022.

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This is quite a feat for a 21-year-old who was only submitting demos to the BBC just four years ago in 2018.

His achievements are even more impressive when you learn that Marinho learned to speak French before he learned English. Quite a feat.

His demos caught the attention of radio hosts across the country, with the solo reaching Ali Raymond of Beatnik Creative, who began managing Marinho.



Glastonbury Festival has made Somerset famous for music and the arts.

Her debut song 'Cola' was released later that same year on the label, sparking the start of a journey that saw her dubbed between Diana Ross, Dojo Cat, Lorde and Noel Gallagher.

With over 27 million streams on Spotify, 'Cola' remains a fan favorite, but his next ventures will only get bigger.

His first EP 'Super Sad Generation' was released in 2019 after signing with Transgressive Records.

The EP garnered widespread praise, with VICE stating, "Audience-wise, I suppose you could put her on a similar level to teenage Billie Eilish, another rising star, albeit on a much higher scale. But Arlo is different. She is precise when she speaks about the lived experience of this generation, often with nuance that gets stuck in your throat, in person, when we meet, and also on record."

Meanwhile, The Guardian stated, "Arlo Parks has carved a niche for himself by engaging with music the joyous highs and crushing lows of the emotional roller coaster that is adolescence." Quite a compliment for an artist who was only 18 years old at the time.

To make this even more impressive, the EP was recorded at his home in South West London and at an Airbnb in London's Angel district.

Then came their first Glastonbury appearance, shortly after their first gig at The Great Escape in Brighton.

Her appearance on Worthy Farm came on the BBC's music presentation stage, the same organization that had first helped her rise to fame.

In the latter stages of 2019, Parks released the songs "George", "Sophie", and "Angel's Song" ahead of her second EP, 'Sophie'..

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2020 should have seen Arlo Parks embark on his first headlining tour, which has started in part, but has been halted due to the pandemic.

Two tunes released during the lockdown, "Eugene" and "Black Dog" were very well received, with the latter getting a lot of radio airtime after appearing as BBC Radio 1's Tune of the Week.

Parks was soon on the cover of NME and won the AIM Independent Music Award for One to Watch in 2020.

In January 2021, he released his first album, Collapsed in sunbeams, introducing one of his most successful solo singles, 'Hope' to widespread praise for the entire project.

Then on May 11, he won the Breakthrough Artist Award at the 2021 Brit Awards.

The album won the Hyundai Mercury Award for Album of the Year. Judge Annie Mac stated, "We chose an artist with a singular voice who uses lyrics of remarkable beauty...and connects deeply with her generation as she does so."

She has now been selected to tour with Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and Clairo, and will perform at Glastonbury in June 2022.

Will you see Arlo Parks in Glasto? Let us know in the comments below.

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