Rock legend Neil Young announces that he will be pulling out of Glastonbury 2025, claiming the festival is "now under corporate control".
In an announcement made to his website, Young said that him and his band the Chrome Hearts "were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all time favourite outdoor gigs" but will not be performing any longer.
"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," said Young, who headlined Glastonbury in 2009. "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.”
Young signed off the statement saying he hoped to see fans at one of the other venues on their tour.
The BBC took over coverage of Glastonbury in 1997 from Channel 4 as its exclusive broadcast partner.
During his 2009 headlining appearance at Glastonbury, Neil Young fans were confused as to why the Canadian singer's set was not being fully shown by the BBC on their website, or on TV.
The broadcaster responded to the confusion by explaining that "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,"
Young's management did agree to one song being available online to give a flavour of the gig, but that was it.
The BBC has declined to comment on Young's decision to pull out of the festival this year.
Tickets for Glastonbury 2025 sold out in just over half an hour this year. Organiser Emily Eavis has confirmed that Glasto will be taking a break for 2026, but 2025’s festival will be the “best one yet”.
