David and Victoria Beckham watched their son Cruz Beckham perform at Reading Festival today – see footage below.
Cruz and his band The Breakers played a half-hour set on the festival’s new Canopy stage at Little John’s Farm earlier today (August 29).
Footage shared online shows the former England football captain smiling as he watched on from the side of the stage, with the former Spice Girls singer alongside him.
Check it out below.
David and Victoria Beckham cheer on nepo son Cruz and his band The Breakers as they make their Reading debut as the whole family watch from backstage while critics say he wouldn’t be on that stage if it wasn’t for who his parents are.. pic.twitter.com/0HTRCoDIor
— That’s The Badger! (@Thatsthebad) August 29, 2026
David Beckham and Victoria Beckham watch Cruz Beckham and The Breakers perform during the 2026 Reading Festival. pic.twitter.com/LsBKSasgbN
— 21 (@21metgala) August 29, 2026
Cruz’s appearance comes amid debate surrounding the Canopy stage, which has replaced the BBC Introducing Stage after its 18-year presence at Reading & Leeds was brought to an end.
Festival Republic told NME that the change would allow the festival to draw from a wider pool of emerging musicians and “support a more diverse range of up-and-coming artists, who will hopefully go on to headline the festival in years to come”.
However, the connections of some of the artists booked for its inaugural line-up have since attracted scrutiny, with some fans nicknaming it the “nepo baby stage”.
Alongside Cruz, the weekend’s Canopy line-up includes Violet Grohl, daughter of Dave Grohl, and Villanelle, fronted by Liam Gallagher’s son Gene. Boyband December 10, who were formed through Simon Cowell’s Netflix series The Next Act, are also due to appear.
Festival Republic told The Guardian that the stage remained open to emerging artists “from all backgrounds”, regardless of whether they were independent, signed or had entered the industry through different routes.
The controversy follows the significant role played by BBC Introducing in developing new British artists. The BBC said the initiative had supported approximately 70 per cent of the British acts appearing across Reading & Leeds’ 2026 line-up, with Ed Sheeran and The 1975 among those to have played its festival stage early in their careers.
BBC Introducing will continue to work with other festivals, and has since announced a month-long programme of performances, workshops, panels and networking events across 10 UK locations in November.
Cruz, meanwhile, released his eight-track debut EP ‘Wear & Tear’ on August 21. He launched his music career last year with the double A-side ‘Optics’ and ‘Lick The Toad’, before sharing the singles ‘For Your Love’ and ‘Waste Your Pain’.
Last weekend, he joined The Kooks during their headline set at Rock N Roll Circus Norwich, playing guitar and sharing vocals with Luke Pritchard on ‘Jackie Big Tits’.
Pritchard previously revealed that he had been writing songs with Cruz, praising his musical taste and response to criticism surrounding his famous family. “It was great when he said, ‘Jesus was a nepo baby too’,” he said. “I thought that was quite a funny response.”
Cruz Beckham and The Breakers are scheduled to play the Canopy stage at Leeds Festival tomorrow (August 30). See the full stage times here.
Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, photos, interviews and much more from Reading & Leeds 2026.
