Neil Young reverses decision to pull out of Glastonbury 2025

Neil Young has said that he will in fact headline this year’s Glastonbury, after the music legend announced earlier this week that he was pulling out of the festival over BBC's "corporate control."

The Canadian musician wrote on his blog that “an error in information” led to his initial decision to pull out.

“Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see you there!” he said.

It was not made clear what the error was.

On Tuesday, Young said he was not going to play the world-famous festival over it being “under corporate control” due to its partnership with the BBC.

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

Young last played the festival in 2009, after reaching an agreement with the BBC that only a portion of his set could be broadcast.

 

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Tickets for this year’s Glastonbury sold out in 35 minutes when they went on sale in November. Headline acts are usually announced in March, with the rest of the bill set to be unveiled closer to the festival date.

Young joins Rod Stewart and Nile Rodgers & Chic as the only acts to be announced so far for this year's event, which will be taking place on Worthy Farm in Somerset.

Glastonbury is expected to take a "fallow year" in 2026, to allow the ground to recover.

Elsewhere, Young recently said on The Mentors Radio podcast that he is working on a new album alongside his band the Chrome Hearts.