THE BBC has confirmed it will not show Neil Young’s headline set at Glastonbury Festival live “at the artist’s request”.
The 79-year-old is due to perform on the Pyramid Stage at Worthy Farm on Saturday night with his band the Chrome Hearts.
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.”
The singer, who began his career in the 1960s with the band Buffalo Springfield, previously said he had initially turned down the offer to perform at the festival, saying it was “under corporate control” of the BBC in a message on his website.
But Young later backtracked and was announced as one of the headliners saying he had “always loved” the event and he was looking forward to performing.
Young is best known for songs such as Rockin’ In The Free World, Cinnamon Girl and Like A Hurricane, and albums such as Zuma, Harvest and After The Gold Rush.
Elsewhere at Glastonbury Festival, founder Sir Michael Eavis has said people who do not agree with the politics of the event “can go somewhere else”.
Eavis, 89, and his daughter, organiser Emily Eavis, opened the gates to the festival on Wednesday morning and could be seen counting down and cheering as a brass band played.
The festival has always had a political element to it with stages such as Left Field and Green Fields’ Speakers Forum welcoming politicians, pundits and celebrities to speak on topics ranging from feminism to fascism.
Asked if the event still stands for something, Eavis told Glastonbury Free Press, the festival’s resident newspaper: “Oh heaven’s above, yes, of course it does.
“And I think the people that come here are into all those things. People that don’t agree with the politics of the event can go somewhere else!”
Eavis, who has used a wheelchair to get around the festival in recent years, said he still gets “really excited” for the five-day celebration of performing arts and music, though he can “no longer run around like I used to”.
He told the paper: “I still take a lot of pleasure from all of it. I’m enjoying every day.
“And Emily is doing so well. I’m just feeling really safe with the show being in her hands.”
Former Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker, who left the BBC One show last month, will be speaking at Silver Hayes’s The Information on Saturday for a panel titled Standing Up For ‘Getting Along’ In A World That’s Being Pushed Apart.
He told the paper: “It’s basically along the lines of: everything is done to try and divide us, and I think if people can pull together – because I think most of us are decent human beings – then just a bit more kindness in the world would go a long way at the moment.”
This year’s line-up features a number of acts listed as TBA, as well as a mysterious act called Patchwork, who will take to the Pyramid Stage on Saturday.
One of the more controversial acts performing is Irish rap trio Kneecap, who have been in the headlines recently after one of their members was charged with a terror offence.
Before the festival, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it would not be “appropriate” for them to perform their slot, taking place on the West Holts Stage at 4pm on Saturday.
On Thursday evening, the rap trio posted a film they executive produced online, titled Stop The Genocide, which includes testimonies from a Palestinian activist and plastic surgeon on the war in Gaza.
Other performers include Irish singer CMAT, Prada singer Raye, US musician Brandi Carlile, Nile Rodgers and Chic, hip-hop star Loyle Carner, US pop star Gracie Abrams, indie outfit Wet Leg, Mercury Prize-winning jazz quintet Ezra Collective, US rapper Denzel Curry, and rising star Lola Young.
This year, the BBC will provide livestreams of the five main stages – Pyramid, Other, West Holts, Woodsies and The Park.
