NEIL Young has said he will now be playing the Glastonbury Festival just days after saying he would not be performing because the event was “under corporate control” of the BBC.
The legendary Canadian singer- songwriter announced on Tuesday in a letter on his website that he and his band the Chrome Hearts had pulled out of playing the festival after being told the BBC “was now a partner in Glastonbury” and “wanted us to do a lot of things in a way we were not interested in”.
He had not yet been confirmed as an act.
He wrote: “It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being.”
But he has now U-turned blaming “an error in the information I received”.
The BBC and Glastonbury Festival share a longstanding partnership, which began in 1997. The broadcaster provides extensive live coverage, highlights, and behind-the-scenes content across TV, radio, and online platforms.
It comes after rocker Rod Stewart was confirmed as an act at the festival, returning 23 years after his last Glastonbury performance.
Nile Rodgers also accidentally confirmed he will be performing with Chic during an acceptance speech at the Rolling Stone awards in November.
Young last performed at Glastonbury in 2009 as a headline act on the Pyramid stage, but only portions of his two-hour set were broadcast on the BBC.
In response to criticism from Young’s fans, the BBC said it had “spent the last couple of months” negotiating with Young’s management about how much of his set they could broadcast.
Young was also booked to play Glastonbury in 1997, but pulled out after cutting his finger while making a ham sandwich just before the start of his European tour, saying at the time: “I’d have eaten the thing in one piece if I’d known that cutting it in half would jeopardise the tour. It’s macaroni and cheese from now on.”
Glastonbury’s headline acts tend to be announced in March, while the full line-up is usually revealed in June. Tickets for the 2025 festival sold out in just 32 minutes.
