Beyonce serenades Glastonbury to a close (AFP)

GLASTONBURY (AFP) – US soul diva Beyonce on Sunday brought Britain's Glastonbury festival to a flamboyant finale with a greatest hits and covers set before of 100,000 sun-baked revellers.

The Bootylicious singer, whose husband Jay Z played a famous set at the 2008 festival, performed her solo repertoire, hits from her time as a member of Destiny's Child and an eclectic mix of cover versions.

The crowd helped the superstar through "Say my Name", "Survivor" and "Independent Women" along with her interpretations of the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams", Alanis Morisette's "You Oughta Know" and "Sex on Fire" by the Kings of Leon.

Addressing the massed ranks, the singer said: "I want you all to know right now you're witnessing my dream.

"I always wanted to be a rock star and tonight we are all rock stars," she added. "I still can't believe I'm performing at Glastonbury."

Earlier in the day, veteran singer-songwriter Paul Simon took to the main stage to perform hits "Diamonds on the soles of her shoes" and "You can call me Al", with a huge crowd seemingly unperturbed by his illness-affected voice.

British rapper turned soul crooner Plan B cemented his reputation as one of the country's hottest talents with an epic early evening set on the main Pyramid Stage.

"I came here in 2000, broke in, and watched Cypress Hill on the main stage," the singer told BBC. "To perform there and look from the other side was mental."

Despite a wet start to festivities on Thursday and Friday, the weather gods smiled on the 170,000 ticket holders with unbroken sunshine greeting artists performing at the farm in Somerset, south west England, on Saturday and Sunday.

Rockers Coldplay occupied the coveted Saturday night headline slot, while Irish megastars U2 kicked off proceedings at the world's largest performing arts and music festival with a two-hour set on Friday.

Crowd violence marred the band's debut Glastonbury performance as security guards stamped out a protest against the rockers' tax status.

As the band came on stage, campaign group Art Uncut inflated a 20-foot (six-metre) balloon emblazoned with the message "U Pay Your Tax 2."

But as they tried to release it over the crowd, a team of security guards swooped into the crowd and tackled them to the ground before confiscating the balloon.

"Bono is well known for his anti-poverty campaigning but Art Uncut is accusing him of hypocrisy," campaigner Charlie Dewar said.

The group highlighted U2's decision to switch their tax affairs from Ireland to the Netherlands to pay less tax following a change in the law in 2006.

On a sombre note, the body of Christopher Shale, chairman of West Oxfordshire Conservative Association, was discovered Sunday morning in a portable toilet in the festival's VIP backstage area.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha said they were "devastated" to hear of the death of their "great friend".

Mud rivals music at Glastonbury festival (Reuters)

PILTON, England (Reuters) – Mud matched the music as the abiding memory at this year's Glastonbury festival, where U2, Coldplay and Beyonce played the top slots and 180,000 people braved boggy conditions to hear their favorite

acts.

Getting from one stage to another on the 900 acre site in southwest England was a major undertaking, requiring the "zombie walk" that did not prevent rain boots being sucked off people's feet and dozens of fans ending face first in the mud.

Patience paid off and raincoats were ditched for bikinis when the sun came out on Saturday and Sunday, making the festival site easier to navigate.

"I think the main memory has to be the mud," said Matt Bennett, in his early 20s, sitting at the Other Stage and basking in the hot sunshine.

His friend Amy Mortimer added: "You do get used to it, and once the sun came out you could concentrate on the music."

Michael Eavis, founder of Glastonbury who owns the picturesque dairy farm where the event has been held most years since 1970, praised the stoic spirit of festival-goers.

"We managed to survive in the most adverse conditions," he told reporters. "We are survivors after 41 years."

There will be no Glastonbury in 2012, Olympic year in Britain. Eavis said he already had three major acts lined up for the 2013 edition, but he would not name them.

U.S. superstar Beyonce Knowles was the closing performer late on Sunday, making her Glastonbury debut three years after husband Jay-Z proved a surprise hit.

Jay-Z was in the boisterous crowd of tens of thousands as Knowles gave a high octane performance of her own hits, cover versions and a medley of well-known tracks by her old band Destiny's Child.

"I want you all to know right now you are witnessing my dream," she called out. "I always wanted to be a rock star and tonight we are all rock stars ... I want you to get lost in this music tonight."

U2 PROTEST, POLITICIAN DEATH

On the eve of the festival, Eavis had bemoaned the lack of political activism at Glastonbury in recent years, reflecting some people's feeling that it was being taken over by middle class music fans out solely to enjoy themselves.

He got his wish in the form of a small protest during Irish rockers U2's Friday night concert held in the driving rain.

A pressure group called Art Uncut inflated a large balloon with the words "U Pay Tax 2?" in protest against the band's decision several years ago to relocate its operations from Ireland to the Netherlands for tax purposes.

Campaigners complained of rough handling by security guards who forced them to take the balloon down, but Eavis shrugged off the criticism, saying the story had been exaggerated.

"It was only one balloon," he said. "It was all churned up as being a huge thing, but it wasn't at all."

Headliners Coldplay, "surprise guests" Pulp, blues veteran B.B. King, London rapper Tinie Tempah and Manchester rockers Elbow were all named as favorite acts by fans and critics.

Hundreds of other bands fought for attention in venues across the site, and a handful of celebrities braved the conditions including soccer star Wayne Rooney and supermodel Kate Moss, who watched her fiance Jamie Hince of The Kills.

Casting a shadow over the event, Christopher Shale, chairman of West Oxfordshire Conservative Association, was found dead in a portable toilet in the VIP camping area on Sunday morning.

Prime Minister David Cameron said he and his wife Samantha were "devastated" at the loss of their friend.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)