Neil Young has been confirmed as a headliner for this year’s Glastonbury Festival, just three days after he said he would not perform.
Young, 79, has since said an “error in information” led to a previous post where he and the Chrome Hearts pulled out of the lineup. This has since been corrected, and Young will perform at the festival on the Pyramid Stage later this year.
A statement from Young, posted to the Neil Young Archives website on December 31, read: “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.”
“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! We will not be playing Glastonbury on this tour because it is a corporate turn-off, and not for me like it used to be. Hope to see you at one of the other venues on the tour.”
But a new post to the site, published earlier today, reads: “Due to an error in the information received, I had decided to not play the 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!” Festival organiser Emily Eavis has also confirmed the news of Young’s slot at the festival, confirming he will be playing a headline slot on the Pyramid Stage.
Her statement reads: “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.”
Young has previously headlined the Pyramid Stage, with a performance in 2009 seeing the Heart of Gold songwriter play a tight set of his best bits, as well as a cover of The Beatles’ A Day in the Life.
News of Young’s commitment to Glastonbury comes as the rest of his European tour is “under review”. A separate statement to the Neil Young Archives reads: “The Chrome Hearts European Tour is under review. The tour submitted did not stay within the requested venues and is being re-done to omit any indoor shows. Indoor shows may be too risky on a health level and we don’t want to have to cancel any shows because of health concerns this coming summer. More news soon.”
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