Queen guitarist Brian May has said that the band will not play Glastonbury Festival due to “politics”.
- READ MORE: ‘Queen days’: Brian May reflects on his rock ‘n’ roll journey
The iconic rock band have never played the Pyramid Stage, with May voicing his disagreement with festival founder Michael Eavis‘s support of badger culling through the years.
Back in 2019, May explained that the band would “never” play the festival due to their clash in opinions, and he further doubled down on the comments in 2023.
Now, May has once again quashed hopes that Queen will play Glastonbury in 2027. In a new interview with the Daily Mail, the rock icon said: “I wouldn’t do Glastonbury next year because of the politics of the people who run it. Unless that changes, I won’t do it.”
“They like killing badgers, and they think it’s for sport,” he claimed, “and that’s something I cannot support because we’ve been trying to save these badgers for years, and they are still being killed for years, so that’s the reason we’re missing out on it.”
Eavis, who is also a dairy farmer, previously called May a “danger to farming” and criticised the guitarist’s opposition to the controversial badger cull – arguing that the process is a fight against the impact that bovine TB can cause when cattle become infected.
May is the co-founder of the Save Me animal welfare organisation, which campaigns against fox hunting and badger culling.
NME has contacted Glastonbury representatives for comment.
In 2023, May further ruled out an appearance from Queen at Worthy Farm, saying: “Michael Eavis has frequently insulted me, and I don’t particularly enjoy that. What bothers me more is that he’s in favour of the badger cull, which I regard as a tragedy and an unnecessary crime against wildlife.”
Prior to that, in 2018, Eavis’ support of the badger cull also prompted Downton Abbey actor Peter Egan to lead calls for music fans and animal lovers to boycott Glastonbury.
In other news, fans now have to wait until 2027 for another Glasto due to a fallow year in 2026. The event’s last planned break came in 2018, before being forced to cancel both its 2020 and 2021 editions due to COVID.
Looking ahead to Glastonbury 2027, bookmakers are already taking bets on who could headline. Rumours include Sam Fender, Ed Sheeran, Rihanna and Little Simz.
This year’s instalment of the Worthy Farm festival saw The 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo headline the iconic Pyramid Stage. Other performances came from the likes of Charli XCX, Wolf Alice, Rod Stewart, Doechii and Kneecap.
2025 also saw surprise slots from Pulp, Haim, Lorde and Lewis Capaldi. Check out NME‘s review of Glastonbury 2025 here.
