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Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts will perform as headliners at the Glastonbury Festival this Saturday. But contrary to tradition, the concert is not transferred by the BBC.
Already in January, shortly after Young was announced as one of the first artists for the Glastonbury 2025, the rock musician said that he would cancel his headlining appearance. Because of the partnership of the festival with the BBC.
“We have been informed that the BBC is now a partner of Glastonbury. And awaited things from us that we are not interested in. It seems that Glastonbury is now under the control of corporations. And is no longer what I remember,” said Young at the time. “We won’t play at Glastonbury on this tour. Because it is a group switch. And not as much as I used to be.”
BBC confirms: No livestream by Neil Young
But just a few days later, Young joined the festival. And explained that his withdrawal was “due to an error in the information received”. “Fortunately, the festival is on our tour schedule again. We are happy to play there!”
Six months later, it turns out that Young’s problems were apparently at the BBC and not at the Glastonbury Festival: When the broadcaster published its festival schedule at the beginning of this week, Young was noticeable-at his own request.
“At the request of the artist, we will not broadcast Neil Young’s appearance live,” said a BBC spokesman for the Telegraph. “Our plans, including the TV highlight shows and on-demand reporting, will continue to vote until and during the festival.” While Young plays on the Pyramid Stage, the viewers are shown Charli XCX’s appearance instead.
Young last appeared on June 26, 2009 at the Glastonbury Festival – the BBC only showed parts of his set at the time. “In the past few months, the BBC has spoken to Neil’s management about how much of its appearance we could show on TV, radio and online at the Glastonbury weekend,” the broadcaster wrote in a statement to fans who were surprised why the entire set was not shown. “Neil Young’s career always went according to his own rules. Yesterday evening, his management agreed to release five songs for television and radio while they listened and looked at.