Emily Eavis insisted she "doesn’t have an agenda" when it comes to booking music acts for Glastonbury Festival.
The 43-year-old, who organises the world’s most famous festival with her dad Michael Eavis, came under fire for booking all-male headliners this year.
Artic Monkeys will headline the Pyramid Stage on Friday night, followed by Guns N’ Roses on Saturday and Sir Elton John on the Sunday. Elton, who has never played Glastonbury before, will close the festival in what is set to be his last ever UK show.
When the line-up was announced in March, it was unfortunate timing the Brit Awards had just put forward an all-male shortlist for best artist.
Emily revealed she tried to book a female headliner, but they had to pull out due to calendar clashes – so Guns N’ Roses stepped in as a replacement.
In a new interview with Cosmopolitan, she hit back at criticism over this year’s line-up saying Glastonbury is not publicly funded so she is free to do as she wishes.
“I think everyone knows that we’re trying harder than most, certainly extremely hard to address (the gender balance of acts), and I’ve been very vocal about it,” she told the magazine.
“I’m trying my best and, believe me, it’s a real, passionate subject of mine. I’ve been trying to raise the flag around gender and festivals for a long time. But we can only do so much.
“I just do what I think is right. Because I don’t have an agenda, I’m just trying to do the best thing for the festival and make it as fair and equal and brilliant as possible.”
There was also controversy when American singer-songwriter Lana del Rey reportedly hinted she might pull out of this year’s event when a poster listed her name under those of less well-recognised acts.
More recent posters list del Rey’s name on the second tier, under headliners Sir Elton John, Guns N’ Roses and Arctic Monkeys, with Lizzo – who is set to play on the Pyramid Stage before Guns N’ Roses – sharing joint billing with the three acts.
Emily said that in the past she has faced a backlash for booking “too many” female artists, as well as booking “old people, young people, rap music”.
She added: “To be honest, I just want to tune into the festival and tune out the noise.”
Glastonbury Festival takes place at Somerset’s Worthy Farm from Wednesday June 21 to Monday June 26 this year.
Next year's event has already secure its headliners, with two females set to take the top spots, neither of who have appeared at Glastonbury before.
But while Emily is remaining tight-lipped on who she has managed to bag for Glastonbury 2024, she admits her dream headliners would be Fleetwood Mac, Tom Waits or Kate Bush.
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