Glastonbury 2025: Neil Young U-turns and allows BBC to show his headline set

Posted On June 28, 2025June 28, 2025

In a dramatic U-turn, Neil Young has allowed the BBC to broadcast his set from the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival on June 28th.

In a new statement, shared with Far Out, a spokesperson for the BBC said: “We are delighted to confirm that Neil Young’s headline set from Glastonbury on Saturday will be broadcast live to audiences across the UK on the BBC.”

Previously, after intense speculation, the BBC said of the situation on June 26th: “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.”

Due to Young’s resistance to allow the BBC to broadcast his set from the Pyramid Stage, his name was omitted from their coverage guide as negotiations with the legendary singer-songwriter wrangled on, but now, it has finally reached a positive conclusion.

In the aforementioned coverage guide, the BBC said of their schedule of Saturday evening: “Live at Worthy Farm on iPlayer and BBC One from 10:30pm as Charli XCX returns to headline the Other Stage in one of the most hyped sets of the weekend.” However, this has now changed after Young granted the broadcaster permission.

The saga between the Canadian and the BBC started on January 1st when Young took to his website to claim that he wouldn’t play at the festival due to its relationship with the broadcaster, writing, “We were told the BBC was now a partner in Glastonbury and wanted us to do a lot for things we were not interested in.”

The Canadian then accused Glastonbury of being “under corporate control” and described the event as a “corporate turn-off”.

In another U-turn, two days later, Young backtracked and confirmed he would play Worthy Farm, writing, “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.”

Young is set to perform on the Pyramid Stage tonight at 22:00pm following sets from Raye and the mysterious Patchwork, who are rumoured to be Pulp.

Far Out will be in attendance for his performance and providing direct coverage from Worthy Farm.

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