Neil Young has said he will now be playing the Glastonbury Festival, blaming ‘an error in the information I received’ for him initially turning down the offer because it was ‘under corporate control’ of the BBC.
The singer, 79, and his new live band The Chrome Hearts were thought to be in the running for the huge music event which takes place at Worthy Farm in Somerset.
But Young issued a bombshell statement on New Year’s Day accusing the festival of being controlled by the BBC, appearing to dash fan’s hopes.
Today a statement Neil Young’s website posted said: ‘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.’
Young had previously said in an open letter on the Neil Young Archives this week: ‘The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all time favorite outdoor gigs.
‘We were told the BBC was now a partner in Glastonbury and wanted us to do a lot of things in a way that we were not interested in. 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.’
Neil Young has now said he and his band will be playing at Glastonbury next year, blaming an ‘error’ in information
Young earlier this week said that he has pulled out of Glastonbury 2025. The singer, 79, and his new live band The Chrome Hearts were thought to be in the running for the huge music event
A source had previously told The Sun of his participation in Glastonbury: ‘Neil and his band The Chrome Hearts are firming up plans for European dates next year and Glastonbury is on the cards’
At the end of last year Sir Rod Stewart was the first act confirmed for Glastonbury 2025, with the festival announcing that the rock star will play the Legends slot on the Pyramid Stage
The BBC has aired sets from the music festival across its various television and radio stations for years.
Young’s most recent performance at Glastonbury in 2009 was broadcast on the BBC.
Young’s new band features Micah Nelson on guitar, Spooner Oldham on organ, Corey McCormick on bass, and Anthony LoGergo on drums.
Announcing his return to the Pyramid Stage, a statement on Glastonbury Festival’s Instagram page 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.’
At the end of last year Sir Rod Stewart was the first act confirmed for Glastonbury 2025, with the festival announcing that the rock star will play the Legends slot on the Pyramid Stage.
The appearance will mark 23 years after his last performance at the Somerset festival.
Sir Rod, 79, will play the famous Sunday teatime ‘legends’ slot, following in the footsteps of Shania Twain in 2024.
The five-day festival takes place in June at Somerset’s Worth Farm and draws in around around 200,000 music fans each year to watch some of the world’s biggest musicians perform.
The official Glastonbury tickets went on sale on November 14 and November 17.
The stakes were even higher than usual, as 2026 will be a fallow year, meaning the festival will not go ahead.