Neil Young backtracks on abruptly pulling out of Glastonbury 2025 lineup
Neil Young is backtracking on pulling out of Glastonbury in England.
In a New Year's Eve note on his website, the "Heart of Gold" hitmaker told fans that he planned to pull out of the British music festival with his band The Chrome Hearts. Now, he says, that decision was made "due to an error in the information" he received.
"I had decided to not play the Glastonbury festival, which I always have loved," Young wrote on his website Friday. "Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see you there."
It's unclear what "error" in information Young received. On Tuesday, the country-rock singer abruptly told fans he and his backing band would not perform at the festival due to the BBC's involvement. The British public broadcaster is currently the exclusive broadcast partner of Glastonbury and has worked with the festival since 1997, according to the company.
"The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all time favorite outdoor gigs," Young said Tuesday. "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. Thanks for coming to see us the last time! 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."
Paste BN reached out to reps for BBC and Glastonbury for comment.
Around 200,000 people attended last year's festival in Glastonbury, England. British singer Dua Lipa, Chris-Martin fronted band Coldplay and American R&B artist SZA were the headliners. The 2025 lineup is yet to be announced, but the festival is slated to take place from June 25 to June 29.
Last year, Young and rock band Crazy Horse reunited to perform their hits on their first tour together in a decade. The tour features the now 78-year-old singer alongside his Los Angeles rock band yet again.
The Canadian singer-songwriter, best known for songs like "Harvest Moon" and "Old Man," released the album "Fu##in' Up" with Crazy Horse on April 25, featuring nine rock 'n' roll tracks. The two have released 15 studio albums together.
Young and Crazy Horse kicked off their brief 16-stop tour on April 24 in San Diego and headed to Virginia, New Jersey, New York and more.
This story has been updated to include additional information.
Contributing: Audrey Gibbs, The Tennessean; Taijuan Moorman, Paste BN