Young said he had initially pulled out of the festival due to an ‘error in the information I received’
Neil Young will headline the Pyramid Stage at this year’s Glastonbury after having initially pulled out of the festival, Emily Eavis has announced.
Earlier this week, the 79-year-old announced he and his band would not play at Glastonbury this year because the BBC “wanted us to do a lot of things in a way we were not interested in”.
But in a post on his blog on Friday, the Canadian singer revealed he had reversed this decision.
Young wrote that he had initially decided not to play due to “an error in the information I received,” adding he had “always loved” Glastonbury.
He continued: “Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see you there!”
This was followed by a post on Instagram from festival organiser Emily Eavis, who said Young would be headlining the Pyramid Stage at this year’s festival.
She wrote: “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.”
The u-turn makes Young the third confirmed act to be playing Glastonbury this year, after Rod Stewart and Nile Rodgers, who accidentally announced Chic would be playing the festival.
Young last headlined the Pyramid Stage in 2009, when he was involved in a dispute with the BBC over the broadcast of his performance.
The rock legend and his management only allowed the BBC to allow TV and radio broadcast of five of his songs. A BBC statement at the time said this was because Young and his management “believe in the live event and retaining its mystery and that of their artist.”
It is not clear if Young’s performance at Worthy Farm this summer will be televised or not.
In his post earlier this week saying he would not be playing the festival, Young labelled Glastonbury a “corporate turn-off.”
He wrote: “We were told the BBC was now a partner in Glastonbury and wanted us to do a lot for things 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.”
