Rock legend Neil Young has been announced as the first of this year’s Glastonbury headliners.
Now, we know what you’re thinking. Didn’t Neil Young just post a whole tirade against Glastonbury a few days ago, claiming he’d pulled out of the festival because they were now under “corporate control”? And to that we say… yes.
So, last week, the Heart Of Gold singer shared a post on his official website, claiming he had been booked to perform at Worthy Farm this summer.
However, he quickly added that while he and his band the Chrome Hearts had initially been “looking forward to playing Glastonbury”, he’d since had a change of heart.
“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,” Neil claimed.
“It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being.”
Neil 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.”
However, days later, the post was deleted, and replaced by another one confirming that there’d been “an error in the information” that he’d received about his Glastonbury slot.
As such, he’d “happily” made a u-turn on his decision, and the festival is now “back on our itinerary”.
Glasto organiser Emily Eavis then clarified on Instagram: “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.”
Olivia Rodrigo, Sam Fender, The 1975, Stevie Wonder and Eminem are among the musicians who have recently been rumoured to be potential headlines for the 2025 event, which will be Glastonbury’s last before a “fallow year” in 2026.
Rod Stewart will also perform in the Sunday afternoon “Legends” slot, while Nile Rodgerts has announced he and Chic will appear elsewhere on the bill.
