Neil Young has revealed 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 which takes place at Worthy Farm in Somerset.
It comes 16 years after the Heart Of Gold singer headlined the Pyramid Stage and he was set for a comeback – until now.
He wrote in an open letter on the Neil Young Archives this week, according to Rolling Stone: ‘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 revealed 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
He said: ‘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’
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.
The BBC has been contacted for comment by MailOnline.
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.
‘Neil last performed there in 2009 and his headline set on the Pyramid Stage was incredible. He is keen to play a handful of big shows in Europe and his team are keen to get him on the line-up.
‘Glastonbury appears to be leaning back into its roots of rock, and if they can secure Neil it would be an amazing addition to what is already shaping up to be an incredible line up.’
Last month Neil revealed he wanted to scrap the indoor plans for outdoor gigs as he reworked plans for a European tour in 2025.
Writing on his website, Neil said: ‘Indoor concerts could be too risky for health reasons and we don’t want to have to cancel any concerts for health reasons next summer.’
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’
Neil and The Chrome Hearts will be performing at big outdoor venues from next spring across Europe and the UK.
The new band features Micah Nelson on guitar, Spooner Oldham on organ, Corey McCormick on bass, and Anthony LoGergo on drums.
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.
Rod told the BBC that he was ‘proud and ready’ to play at the sold out festival, adding that – at the age of 79 – he was ‘more than able to pleasure and titillate’ the crowd.
He previously headlined the festival in 2002, alongside Coldplay and Stereophonics.
His 2025 appearance was announced by co-organiser Emily Eavis in a post on Instagram which read: ‘Bringing Sir Rod Stewart back for the Sunday afternoon slot on the Pyramid Stage is everything we could wish for.’
‘What a way to bow out with the final legends slot before we take a fallow year. We cannot wait.’
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 singer, who will turn 80 in January, will become one of the oldest artists to perform a major set at Glastonbury. Burt Bacharach played the Pyramid stage in 2015 at the age of 87, while Paul McCartney headlined the week after his 80th birthday back in 2022.
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.