British indie band Florence and the Machine will headline Britain's Glastonbury festival, replacing Foo Fighters who pulled out after singer David Grohl broke his leg on stage, organisers said Wednesday.

"Once we heard... Foo Fighters had been forced to pull out, there was only one person we wanted to call and that was Florence," said organiser Emily Eavis.

"So happy Florence is going to step up to headline Friday night, she's going to smash it!", added Eavis, the daughter of festival founder Michael Eavis.

The five-million-selling band, fronted by singer Florence Welch, recently released their third album "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful" which debuted at number one in both Britain and the United States.

Michael Eavis said he was "absolutely delighted," by the replacement.

"She's a fantastic girl, and she's English as well. It's a moment for her and she will be triumphant."

Foo Fighters on Tuesday called off the rest of a European tour after Grohl broke his leg in a concert in Sweden -- completing the show in a cast.

The former Nirvana drummer said that he had hoped to press on with the tour but that doctors told him to keep his leg elevated.

"It kills me to say it... the doctors have told us to cancel shows," said Grohl.

Welch herself suffered a recent on-stage mishap, breaking her foot at the Coachella festival.

Around 175,000 are expected to attend Glastonbury, which takes place at a farm in southwest England on June 24-28.

Rapper Kanye West and veteran rock icons The Who are the other headliners.
Source: AFP