London:
Popular legend Neil Young has withdrawn from this year’s Glastonbury music festival because it has fallen under the “corporate control” of his partner the BBC.
The 79-year-old musician, who was once part of the line-up of supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, said he was “looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my favorite outdoor gigs of all time”.
But he added that the “BBC… wanted us to do a lot of things in a way that we weren’t interested in” at the festival held in south-west England at the end of June.
“It appears that Glastonbury is under corporate control,” the American-Canadian singer and songwriter claimed in a statement on his website.
“We won’t be playing Glastonbury on this tour because it’s a business letdown, and for me it’s not like it used to be.”
Neither the festival organizers nor the BBC responded to AFP requests for comment on Young’s withdrawal.
The full official line-up for the world-famous festival has not yet been announced.
But rumors swirled that Young and his group The Chrome Hearts would take to the stage at the festival’s home base, Worthy Farm, in the county of Somerset.
Young, who last played Glastonbury in 2009, did not provide specific details about the BBC’s demands.
In 2009, fans accused the BBC of not broadcasting the entire set.
The broadcaster said at the time that it had been negotiating with Young’s team for “months” about what of his show they could show.
“Neil’s management agreed to allow TV and radio to broadcast five songs while they watched and listened to his performance. They believe in the live event and maintain its mystery and that of their artist,” the BBC said at the time .
Tickets for this year’s festival sold out in 35 minutes when they went on sale in November, with standard tickets costing 373.50 pounds ($471.50).
Raunchy British rock star Rod Stewart will play the coveted Legends slot, more than two decades after headlining the festival.
Glastonbury attracted more than 200,000 fans in 2024 and organized 3,000 performances spread over around 80 stages. Many of the performances were broadcast by the BBC, which has been working with the festival since 1997.
Glasto, as the festival is popularly known, was inspired by the British counterculture and hippie movements of the 1960s, with its first edition as the Pilton Festival in 1970.
Glam rockers T. Rex were the first headliners. It has since acquired a cult following and big names from David Bowie and Paul McCartney to Stormzy and Elton John, who played its last UK gig there in 2023.