Glastonbury braces for the 'The Boss', hails the King

Tributes to Michael Jackson kept coming at Britain's Glastonbury music festival as fans looked forward to a landmark appearance by another rock legend, Bruce Springsteen, yesterday.

Many of the 140,000 festival goers were sporting T-shirts with slogans like 'Michael Jackson RIP' and 'I was at Glasto when Jacko died', while graffiti paying tribute to 'The King of Pop' adorned tents.

The T-shirts were printed hastily by enterprising stallholders when news of the death emerged as the festival started last Thursday.

Some revellers were starting to strip off as the sun shone brightly on the 900-acre site on a farm in south-west England - a welcome contrast to the traditionally muddy conditions.

Stars like Lily Allen have already paid tribute to Jackson in their acts - 'Smile' singer Allen wore a single white glove during her set Friday, echoing one of Jackson's favourite wardrobe accessories.

The Streets covered Billie Jean and Gabriella Cilmi incorporated a snippet from the song in her set. Rapper Pharrell Williams, who performed with his band N*E*R*D, said Jackson and his producer Quincy Jones had "opened the door for human beings to explore a higher level of musical consciousness".

Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis added: "You realise what a fantastic legend we've lost, the like of which we can't really replace. As an exponent of song and dance, no-one came close."

Many fans were waiting eagerly to see whether former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker would mention Jackson's death.

Cocker invaded the stage when Jackson was performing Earth Song live at an awards ceremony in 1996 and made disrespectful gestures.

Although there has been no official tribute at Glastonbury, many revellers took part in impromptu mass sing-alongs to some of his best-known hits as Billie Jean and Thriller blared from food stalls and tents.

Following a headline set from Neil Young on Friday, Springsteen, known as 'The Boss', will be the biggest draw.