Pulp to Headline English Festivals

Pitchfork reports that Pulp is set to headline the Reading and Leeds festivals this summer.

It's worth digging into the archives to pay tribute to Pulp. At the 1996 Brit Awards, frontman Jarvis Cocker infamously disrupted a phony performance of Michael Jackson's "Earth Song." Jacko was trying to prove he wasn't a child molester by lip-synching the song posing as some sort of Christ figure while surrounded by children. Bad idea. Cocker called him on his delusional messianic act by invading the stage and - among other things - making a flatulent gesture in Jackson's direction. The police were called into investigate charges that Cocker bumped into some of the kids, but he was released without being charged. For a few days, the British tabloids made Cocker out to be the bad guy, but many in the British music industry called on the Pulp frontman to be knighted for his actions.

Below is the short version, but you can watch the whole performance here.