Earlier this week, the rock icon had announced that he and his Chrome Hearts band wouldn’t be playing the festival on account of the BBC’s partnership with the Worthy Farm festival being “a corporate turn-off”.
The BBC has been the sole broadcast partner for Glastonbury since 1997, providing over 50 hours of coverage annually.
In a lengthy criticism of the festival, he had said: “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.”
However, Young has now changed his tune, and has now been announced as the first Pyramid Stage headliner for 2025.
In a new message on his website, the visionary singer-songwriter confirmed the U-turn, stating: “Due to an error in the information received, I had decided to not play the Glastonbury Festival, which I always have loved.
“Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing. Hope to see you there!”
Emily Eavis, the festival’s organiser, shared her delight in the news, writing 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.”
When Neil Young last performed at the festival in 2009, he permitted the BBC to air only a small segment of his two-hour headline set, despite months of negotiations between Young’s management and the broadcaster.
Ultimately, the agreement allowed for just five songs to be aired – a decision that was finalised while Young was performing on the Pyramid Stage.
It is not yet clear whether Young’s previous doubts about the BBC’s involvement in Glastonbury will mean the same limited broadcast of his forthcoming headline slot this year.
What is clear – whether it’s shown on television or not – is it will almost certainly be a very special set indeed.
