BBC confirms it won’t be broadcasting Glastonbury headliner’s set live

The music festival gets underway today

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 has made headlines again today after the BBC revealed Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young’s set will not be broadcast "at the artist’s request."

A BBC spokesperson said: "On Saturday on BBC iPlayer, our Glastonbury Channel and five streams for the main stages will bring a range of live performances to audiences.

At the artist’s request, we won’t be live streaming Neil Young’s set. Our plans, including those for our TV highlights shows and on-demand coverage, continue to be finalised right up to and during the festival."

It means that only those lucky enough to have secured tickets for the festival will get to see the legendary 79-year-old’s set. 

Neil Young is best known for songs ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’, ‘Cinnamon Girl’ and ‘Like A Hurricane.’ 

The biggest controversy surrounding the festival came to a head after a member of Irish rap group Kneecap, who are scheduled to perform at 4pm on Saturday, recently appeared in court accused of terror offences for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag. 

Kneecap have been public critics of Israel’s military actions in Gaza and call their band member's prosecution a “distraction.”

There have been calls for Kneecap to be kicked out of the festival, with Prime Minster Kier Starmer saying their appearance was not "appropriate” earlier this week.

Michael Eavis, who founded the festival, said Kneecap would be kept in place, adding that those who disagree with Glastonbury’s politics “can go somewhere else.” 

When the BBC announced their full programming schedule for the Gloucester-based event this week which begins at 5pm — an hour after Kneecap are set to start.