Neil Young has made a dramatic U-turn and will headline Glastonbury festival after all.
Earlier this week, the 79-year-old musician revealed that he had backed out of playing the iconic British festival this year because it was “now under corporate control”.
However, he shocked fans by having a change of heart on Friday, claiming his initial boycott was based on incorrect information.
“Due to an error in the information received, I had decided to not play the Glastonbury Festival, which I always have loved,” the singer-songwriter wrote on his website. “Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing. Hope to see you there!”
Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis also confirmed on Instagram that Young would headline the Pyramid Stage.
“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,” she commented.
This makes Young the first headliner to be announced for this year’s music event, which runs from 27 to 29 June at Worthy Farm in Somerset, England. Rod Stewart is also confirmed to play the Sunday legends slot.
In his original post, Young wrote, “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.”
It remains to be seen whether the singer’s set will be televised on the BBC, the long-time TV partner of the event.
When the Down by the River hitmaker last performed at the festival in 2009, he only allowed five songs from his two-hour headline set to be broadcast.
