Neil Young has confirmed that he will headline this year’s Glastonbury festival, clarifying on his blog that he had received “an error in information” that had initially prompted him to pull out.
“Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see you there!” he wrote. He did not explain what the “error” was.
Festival organiser Emily Eavis swiftly posted on Instagram: “What a start to the year!” she wrote. “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 joins Rod Stewart – and Nile Rodgers, who accidentally confirmed that Chic will play – as the only acts slated so far for the 2025 event.
On Tuesday, Young had posted on his site the Neil Young Archives that he was pulling out of the festival – “one of my all-time favourite outdoor gigs” – because of his perception that Glastonbury was “under corporate control” owing 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 wrote. “It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being.”
The broadcaster has partnered with the festival since 1997. A spokesperson offered no comment when reached by the Guardian. The Guardian has also contacted Glastonbury for comment.
When Young headlined Glastonbury in 2009, he reached an agreement with the BBC that it could only broadcast portions of his two-hour set. Five songs were shown. “They believe in the live event and retaining 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. The headliners are usually announced in March with the rest of the bill unveiled closer to the festival date in June. The 1975 and Olivia Rodrigo are among those rumoured to appear.
The festival’s Companies House accounts recently revealed that it doubled its annual profits in the 12-month period leading up to March 2024. It donated £5.2m to charities and paid £1.3m to charities and local groups that ran site services.
It also spent £3.7m on new land acquisition, and 89-year-old founder Michael Eavis transferred his shares in the festival to daughter Emily, who runs the event.
The festival will probably take a fallow year in 2026.