On 55th Anniversary Of Woodstock, Artists Reflect On The Festival’s Legacy

On August 15, 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair started on a remote farm in Bethel, New York. The three-day music festival would feature over 150 musicians and go on to forever alter the landscape of music and culture. On the 55th anniversary of the first day of Woodstock, Ultimate Classic Rock assembled the reflections of 15 artists who played the festival and what they think of the experience all these years later. Creedence Clearwater Revival didn’t play until 2:30 a.m. after Grateful Dead’s set went long. “We ran onstage ready to rock ‘n’ roll, but everybody was just lying there in front of the stage asleep,” John Fogerty recalled to the Los Angeles Times in 2019. “About halfway through, I went to the microphone and said, ‘We’re playing our hearts out for you and want you to have a good time.’ And from the back of the field somewhere I heard a voice shout, ‘Don’t worry about it, John.’ So in my mind, there was one guy who was awake and we finished our set for that guy.” (Ultimate Classic Rock)