Yahoo Lifestyle Neil Young Will Now Play Glastonbury After Concerns About BBC “Corporate Control” Were Allayed
UPDATED: Neil Young will make hay in Britain’s harvest moon after all. Just hours after he declared that he would not be playing Glastonbury, the musician has changed his mind.
Earlier this week, Young said the famous Worthy Farm event was under the “corporate control” of the BBC. Now, he has told fans that he was given the wrong information.
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Young wrote on his website: “Due to an error in the information received, I had decided to not play the Glastonbury festival, which I always have loved. Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see you there!”
In an Instagram post, Glastonbury organizer Emily Eavis said: “What a start to the year! Neil Young is an artist who’s very close to our hearts at Glastonbury. He does things his own way and that’s why we love him. We can’t wait to welcome him back here to headline the Pyramid in June.”
PREVIOUS: Neil Young is taking a stand against Glastonbury, arguing that the festival is under the “corporate control” of the BBC.
The 79-year-old Harvest Moon musician had not been announced as part of the music festival’s line-up, but said he would not perform at Worthy Farm in June.
In a letter on the Neil Young Archives website, Young said: “The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all time favorite outdoor gigs.
“We were told that BBC was now a partner in Glastonbury and wanted us to do a lot of things in a way we were not interested in. It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being.”
He added: “We will not be playing Glastonbury on this tour because it is a corporate turn-off, and not for me like it used to be. Hope to see you at one of the other venues on the tour.”
Deadline has contacted the BBC for comment. The British broadcaster has partnered with Glastonbury since 1997, which did not stop Young from performing at the event in 2009.
The BBC only broadcast five of his songs, however, angering the musician’s fans. The BBC said at the time that it had spent months negotiating with Young.
“Neil’s management agreed to let TV and radio broadcast five songs as they watched and listened to his performance. They believe in the live event and retaining its mystery and that of their artist,” the BBC said.
Since then, the BBC has only increased its coverage of the festival, streaming it on iPlayer and carving up highlights across its services.
Young is well-known for taking a principled approach to his music. In 2022, he pulled his songs off Spotify because of the streaming service’s deal with Joe Rogan, whom Young accused of spreading vaccine misinformation. Young returned to Spotify last March.
Rod Stewart is the only confirmed act for Glastonbury 2025. Other rumored bookings include Rihanna, Eminem, and Ed Sheeran.
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