Neil Young makes huge U-turn over Glastonbury performance

The legendary musician is due to perform this evening

The festival kicked off last night with Cheshire band The 1975, and much more is underway today.

Charli XCX is due to headline the Other Stage, with Doechii, Kneecap and the mysterious special guest under the name Patchwork set to be today's other highlights.

While Glastonbury is one of the biggest events in the annual music calendar and regularly contains politically-motivated performances, this year’s festival has been shrouded in controversy more than any other in recent memory. 

Glastonbury made headlines again after the BBC said Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young’s set will not be broadcast “at the artist’s request.”

However, it seems the 'Harvest Moon' singer has now changed his mind, as the BBC have revealed that the set will now in fact be broadcast.

“We are delighted to confirm that Neil Young’s headline set from Glastonbury on Saturday will be broadcast live to audiences across the UK on the BBC,” a spokesperson confirmed.

Young's set will be available to stream on the BBC iPlayer Pyramid Stage stream from 10pm, as well as live on TV on BBC Two and BBC Radio 2.

Young previously pulled out of Glastonbury 2025, claiming the event to be a “corporate turn-off”.

The legendary artist and his live band, The Chrome Hearts, were reported to be headlining the Somerset festival in January, but then rejected any such claims.

Young last played Glastonbury in 2009, but explained his reasoning of not planning on returning to the stage in his ‘Neil Young Archives’.

On the website 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.

“Hope to see you at one of the other venues on the tour.”

However, he then U-turned on his statement, saying he initially pulled out due ‘error in the information I received’.

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!”