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Neil Young U-turns on Glastonbury drop-out after being confirmed as festival headliner
You turn your back for one second as suddenly you're topping the bill on the Pyramid.
Danny Jones -
3rd January 2025 
Barely a beat or two after having seemingly dropped out of the festival, Neil Young has now U-turned on Glastonbury 2025 and now looks set to be headlining it.
The legendary musician called out the world-renowned music festival for being under “corporate” control at the whim of the BBC (its official media and broadcasting partner for nearly 30 years) and said he would no longer be playing his slot.
Young went so far as to call it a “corporate turn-off”, claiming the event is “not how I remember it” in a message on his website.
However, just a few days after posting the news, it now appears as though the Canadian singer-songwriter will still be playing Glastonbury – and not just as one of the multiple legends lined up for 2025 either, but as a headliner.
As you can see in the update shared on Friday, 3 January, the 79-year-old now claims there was an “error” in the information he received regarding his performance at the festival.
Having now cleared up whatever confusion occurred, he and his band the Chrome Hearts will in fact be playing the festival as planned, reiterating his long-lasting love for the festival.
Quite a far cry from the sentiment he seemed to be getting across in his previous post, but make of that what you will.
Furthermore, chief organiser Emily Eavis – whose parents Michael and Jean Eavis set up the first ever Glastonbury music festival back in 1970 – not only hopped on social media to confirm that ‘Shakey’ will be performing but that he will be headline the main Pyramid Stage.
“Neil Young is an artist who’s very close to our hearts at Glastonbury”, she wrote, adding: “He does things his own way and that’s why we love him.”
So has he been given a slot upgrade of sorts or what? It still remains a little unclear.
At present, Rod Stewart is set to play the iconic and outright ‘Legends’ slot during Sunday teatime this June. We likely won’t hear much else about the rest of the lineup until sometime in spring.
This, of course, isn’t the first time Neil Young has done a 180 following a well-publicised decision in protest against a big media company.
The music veteran famously removed all of his discography from Spotify for two years before it eventually reappeared back in March 2024.
As for whatever happened between him and the festival or whether this was some gamesmanship from the influential music icon, at the end of the day, he’s heading to Worthy Farm after all.
Read more:
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- 10 of the best theatre shows to see in Greater Manchester in 2025
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Featured Images — Per Ole Hagen/Rachel D/Ross Belot (via Flickr)
