The Killers, Arctic Monkeys and The Who will headline this year's Glastonbury, the giant British music festival announced on Friday.

The line-up for the 22-24 June event on a farm in the southwest English countryside was revealed in The Guardian newspaper.

Modern chart-toppers, hot new acts and cult classics are all out in force.

Youthful British rockers Arctic Monkeys headline the first day, following the remarkable success of their debut album last year.

'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' broke the record for the largest first week sales of a debut album in British history, on the back of internet file-sharing of their songs between fans.

American indie rock band The Killers headline the second day. Their two albums 'Hot Fuss' (2004) and 'Sam's Town' (2006) went platinum in both Britain and the United States.

British hard rock godfathers The Who make their Glastonbury debut when they top the bill on the final day, 43 years on since the influential band first formed.

"The line-up this year is so good we've even surpassed ourselves," said organiser Michael Eavis.

"From the snazziest new bands to the old boys' specials, you've not seen anything like this before — anywhere."

On the main Pyramid Stage, Artic Monkeys, Kasabian, The Fratellis and Bloc Party appear on 22 June; The Killers, The Kooks, Paul Weller and Dirty Pretty Things play 23 June, and The Who, Kaiser Chiefs, Manic Street Preachers and Shirley Bassey perform 24 June.

On the second Other Stage, Bjork, Arcade Fire, The Coral and Super Furry Animals play 22 June; Iggy and the Stooges, Editors, Maximo Park and Babyshambles perform 23 June and Chemical Brothers, The View, The Rakes and Cold War Kids appear 24 June.

Other acts performing include Fat Boy Slim, Magic Numbers, Lily Allen, The Guillemots, James Morrison, Damian Marley, The Automatic, Klaxons, Hot Chip, The Twang, The Gossip, The Bees, Corinne Bailey Rae, Spiritualized, Ed Harcourt, King Creosote, Sasha and Chas 'n' Dave.

Back after a two-year absence, this year's Glastonbury will be the biggest yet, with an expanded site allowing in 177 500 revellers.

AFP