Isle of Wight Festival: 11 great pictures of previous headliners including Liam Gallagher, Blur, Paul Weller and the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Paul said: ‘One of the privileges of covering live music for The News is photographing music festivals.

‘I have been fortunate to cover every Victorious festival and several Bestivals. It all began in 2002 when the IoW festival returned for the first time since 1970. To steady the nerves of the IoW residents it was a one-day affair with The Charlatans headlining in front of 10,000 fans. Most notably they ran out of beer.

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‘The following year it expanded to two days with Paul Weller topping the bill and one of my all time favourites Iggy Pop. I always remember we left early to get the ferry home and a young couple were having a blazing row as we could still hear Weller on stage. When he started playing That's Entertainment (an old Jam number) the boyfriend completely lost it, much to the amusement of those on the bus.

'As the festival got bigger so did the bands – The Who and David Bowie in 2004 being the biggest – but add in Depeche Mode, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fleetwood Mac and Paul McCartney and you can see the rock royalty that would succumb to the IoW charms.

‘One problem is on the Sunday, when the biggest bands play, access for photographers is somewhat limited and you are forced to shoot from the mixing desk which is miles away. When Bruce Springsteen played in 2012 I broke ranks and went rogue like the old days – I hustled my way to the front of the crowd and shot a few frames which I have to say I was quite pleased with.’

Also check out these Paul Windsor galleries

90s gigs in Portsmouth; When Madness played at Fratton Park; R.E.M. in Portsmouth and the south coast; Joe Strummer at the Wedge