Neil Young performs Glastonbury U-turn

Neil Young has announced he will headline this year’s Glastonbury Festival – just days after saying he had pulled out of the event.

The Canadian-American singer-songwriter, who previously headlined in 2009, wrote on his website earlier this week that he would not be performing at the 2025 festival, saying it appeared that Glastonbury – which is partnered with British public broadcaster the BBC – was “now under corporate control”.

“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.”

However, the 79-year-old has now done an about-turn and revealed he will top the Pyramid Stage bill at Worthy Farm with his band the Chrome Hearts.

“Due to an error in the information received, I had decided not to play the Glastonbury festival, which I always have loved,” he says in a website post today (3 January). “Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing. Happy to see you there!”

“Neil Young is an artist who’s very close to our hearts at Glastonbury”

The news was confirmed by Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis, who wrote on Instagram: “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.”

Young becomes the second artist to be announced for the 25-29 June festival. He joins Rod Stewart, who will play the Sunday teatime legend slot, on the 2025 lineup, although it has not yet been confirmed which night Young will headline.

Glastonbury has also filed its latest financial accounts with the UK’s Companies House, showing its pre-tax profits more than doubled to £5.9 million (€7.1m) for the year up to March 2024 – up from £2.9m in the previous 12 months. It donated £5.2m to charitable causes in the same period.

A spokesperson for the festival told the BBC that “successful, dry Glastonburys in both 2023 and 2024” had helped to “rebuild the event’s vital financial reserves” following the Covid cancellations of 2020-21.

A report measuring the economic impact of Glastonbury revealed the 2023 event cost £62m to stage. The 210,000-cap gathering is due to take a fallow year in 2026 to allow the ground at Worthy Farm to recover.

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