This Saturday's Glastonbury headline performance by Neil Young will upset fans who wanted to watch from home as the the BBC will not be live streaming his concert.
The 79-year-old is set to perform on the Pyramid Stage at Worthy Farm with his band the Chrome Hearts.
Here’s why the BBC will not live stream Young’s set.
Why isn’t Neil Young’s set being shown on the BBC?
Neil Young's Glastonbury headline show on Saturday, January 28, is not scheduled for iPlayer viewing.
The reason behind Neil Young's headline Glastonbury set's cancellation on Saturday, June 28 on BBC iPlayer has been made clear, with the BBC confirming in a statement to the Telegraph: “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 development follows an incident that occurred at the beginning of the year in which Young chose to simultaneously announce and cancel his Glastonbury set after discovering the BBC's involvement.
The American singer-songwriter posted on his own website, Neil Young Archives: “The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all time favorite outdoor gigs. 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.”
He also added: “It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being. Thanks for coming to see us the last time!”
The 79-year-old, however, must have received some comforting calls because shortly after, he took back his remarks.
He updated fans in a new post on January 3, 2025 saying “Due to an error in the information I had received, I had decided not to play Glastonbury Festival, which I always have loved. Happily the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing. Hope to see you there!”
According to some reports, negotiations are still ongoing. A spokesperson for the BBC told the Mirror: “We aim to bring audiences as many performances as possible from the Pyramid Stage, and our schedules and plans continue to be finalised, right up to and during the festival.”
Young has previously restricted the BBC's access to his Glastonbury concerts. Only parts of his concert were televised by the broadcaster during his performance at the event on June 26, 2009.
The BBC explained at the time: “Neil Young’s career has been conducted on his own terms. Last night 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.”
Young has long been well-known for his beliefs about corporate influence in music and artistic control. His position about the live streaming of his Glastonbury performance is consistent with his track record of strictly regulating the presentation and dissemination of his music.
What will play in its place?
According to the Saturday program, BBC One will air Charli XCX's headline performance on the Other Stage starting at 10:30pm, while Young performs on the Pyramid Stage.
