Neil Young won't play Glastonbury because of BBC "corporate control"

Neil Young hadn’t yet been confirmed as a performer at U.K. music festival Glastonbury, but he’s now confirming he won’t be at the 2025 version. “The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all time favorite outdoor gigs,” the artist wrote on his website. “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. It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being. Thanks for coming to see us the last time!”

The British Broadcasting Corporation has been involved with the festival since 1997, a year Young was supposed to play Glasto but had to back out after injuring his finger while cutting a sandwich. The BBC’s coverage of (if not involvement in) the festival has expanded since that time. When Young last played there in 2009, fans were bothered that the BBC only aired select songs from his set during the event and only made one song available online. As it turns out, that was the result of “months” of negotiating with Young’s team. “Neil Young’s career has been conducted on his own terms,” the broadcaster said in a statement at the time (via The Guardian). “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.”

The BBC “declined to comment” to the BBC News about Young’s message, so it’s unclear what the BBC “wanted” Young and his band to do. Though the songwriter may be misremembering the BBC’s prior involvement in the festival, it’s quite possible that the two teams got into the same argument, given that livestreaming is even more prevalent to the festival than it was in 2009. (It wouldn’t be the first time he took issue with streaming.) Whatever was going on behind the scenes, Young sees it as “a corporate turn-off, and not for me like it used to be,” he wrote, concluding the message, “Hope to see you at one of the other venues on the tour. LOVE Neil, Be Well.”