Has Neil Young ever played Glastonbury? Canadian musician pulls out of music festival over BBC’s corporate control

Yes, Neil Young played in Glastonbury in 2009 as a headline act on the pyramid stage alongside Bruce Springsteen and Blur. However, only some parts of his two-hour set were broadcast on BBC. As a response to BBC's corporate control, the legendary musician pulled out of the 2025 Glastonbury Festival along with his band, Chrome Hearts.

The artist shared a statement on his website announcing his decision to pull out of the show:

"The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all time favorite outdoor gigs. We were told 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 Glastobury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being."

He added that his band would not be playing Glastonbury on their tour since it's a "corporate turn-off" and "not for me like it used to be."

As per The Guardian, BBC has been a festival partner since 1997. The outlet also mentioned that the tickets for the festival were sold out in 32 minutes. The festival's headline acts are usually announced in March, and the full lineup is revealed in June.

---

More about Neil Young's 2009 Glastonbury performance

In 2009, Neil Young headlined the Pyramid Stage alongside Bruce Springsteen and Blur. The artist ended his set with an extended version of his track Rockin' In The Free World. Fans were not happy with BBC's broadcast of the performance at the time and left comments on the Glastonbury website asking why the network did not show Young's complete set on the website or TV.

The network faced backlash over limiting broadcast availability to certain performances, including Young's 2009 set. In response to the backlash, BBC said it had "spent the last couple of months" negotiating with the artist's management team on how much of his performance they could broadcast. BBC, in a statement at the time, noted:

"Neil Young's career has been conducted on his own terms. Neil's management agreed to let TV and radio broadcast five songs as they watched and listened to his performance. They believe in the live event and retaining its mystery and that of their artist."

A replacement for Chrome Hearts has not been confirmed yet.