Neil Young Says He Won’t Be Playing Glastonbury Over BBC’s ‘Corporate Control’: It’s ‘Not the Way I Remember It Being’

K.J. Yossman
·2-min read

Neil Young has pulled out of this year’s Glastonbury Festival, blaming the BBC’s “corporate control” for his decision.

The musician said he and his band, the Chrome Hearts, would not be performing at the famed U.K. music event in June.

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“The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all time favorite outdoor gigs,” Young wrote on his website. “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.”

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“It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being… 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.”

Young had not officially been announced as part of the line-up but has performed at the festival previously, headlining the Pyramid stage in 2009.

So far the only officially confirmed act for this year’s event, which is set to take place from June 25 to 29, is Rod Stewart, who will play the “teatime legend” slot.

The BBC has been a partner of Glastonbury since 1997, when it took over broadcasting the festival from Channel 4. Its coverage has grown exponentially since then and is available on its television networks, radio stations, website and streaming platform iPlayer. The publicly-funded corporation is often criticized for the number of staff it sends – reportedly in the hundreds – to cover the five-day event.

Tickets to this year’s festival sold out in 32 minutes, according to reports.

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Variety has contacted Glastonbury and the BBC for comment.

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