The Offspring have had UK number one singles

The popularity of The Strokes last year saw a promotion from the smaller Evening Session stage to the main stage.

The New York band have become one of the biggest acts to emerge over the last year.

Their gigs on Friday 23 August in Reading and the next day in Leeds are their only concerts to be held outside the US this year.

Dance act Prodigy make their first live appearance in four years.

The band are gearing up for the release of their first single since 1997 and they will play at Leeds on the Friday and Reading two days later.

Return

Guns'N'Roses are one of the world's biggest rock acts, but a succession of personnel changes have meant the band have been quiet over the last few years.

The band will be playing only at Leeds - their last UK concert was in 1993.

Last year they were forced to cancel their UK tour after guitarist Buckethead fell ill.

Reading has long been one of the highlights of the UK musical calendar, and it is arguably the most prestigious festival after Glastonbury.

Muse have had two big selling albums

The festival's origins lie in a 1960s jazz festival, but as the years went on, the music got harder and it gained a reputation as the country's top rock festival.

But trouble set in as hard rock bands started to decline, and 1988's festival saw the likes of Bonnie Tyler and Meatloaf running for cover as drunken crowds started throwing bottles of urine at them.

The festival was relaunched in 1989 with indie bands, and now Reading plays host to a wide range of acts, although its harder Sunday night bill is a nod to its past.

In 1999 it expanded to take in a second site in Leeds.