It appears that Neil Young’s headline set at Glastonbury 2025 will not be included in the BBC coverage.
The singer, songwriter and guitarist is set to play a huge slot at the Pyramid Stage this year as one of the three headliners booked in for this year’s Worthy Farm festival. He will be taking to the stage alongside The Chrome Hearts on Saturday (June 28), following on from a headline slot from The 1975 the night before, and Olivia Rodrigo the night after.
Now though, the BBC has shared its coverage plan for the 2025 edition – which kicks off tomorrow (June 25) and runs until Sunday (29) – and it seems that his headline set may not be broadcast on television or radio.
In the update, the platform shared that official coverage would be available on the BBC iPlayer and on television throughout the festival. This includes up to 90 hours of performances across five main stages – Pyramid, Other, West Holts, Woodsies and The Park.
It will also be available on the radio, across BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds. Hosts for this year include Anita Rani, Annie Mac, Clara Amfo, Dermot O’Leary, Greg James, Nick Grimshaw, Steve Lamacq, Zoe Ball and more.
When looking at the Saturday schedule, there is no mention of Neil Young’s set being broadcast for viewers at home.
Acts who are listed as getting coverage on the day include JADE, Brandi Carlile, Weezer, Good Neighbours, John Fogerty, Gary Numan, Ezra Collective, Amyl & The Sniffers, Beth Gibbons, and the mysterious ‘Patchwork’.
Charli XCX’s huge set at The Other Stage will also be broadcast – which takes place at the same time as Neil Young – as will Doechii’s set over at West Holts.
Both other headliners of the Pyramid Stage, The 1975 and Olivia Rodrigo, are listed as having their sets broadcast on both television and radio by the BBC.
While the platform has not explicitly said why Neil Young’s set has not been included on the schedule, it may stem from the comments made by the ‘Harvest Moon’ songwriter about Glastonbury’s partnership with the BBC.
Around the end of last year, Young made headlines when he shared a statement with fans, confirming that he was set to perform at Glastonbury as a headliner (before the official line-up was announced) – but had pulled out due to creative differences.
This decision, he explained on Neil Young Archives, was related to the BBC partnership and the event feeling like “a corporate turn-off”.
“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,” his statement read.
“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.”
Just days later, he would go back on this decision and describe it as a misunderstanding.
“Due to an error in the information received, I had decided to not play the Glastonbury festival, which I always have loved,” he said. “Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see you there!”
Festival organiser Emily Eavis also confirmed news that he was back on the bill saying: “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.”
When asked about the apparent dispute, a BBC spokesperson told NME: “There’s always great excitement about Glastonbury’s bookings and who will appear at the legendary festival. We’ll talk more about our broadcast plans as the line-up shapes up.”
It remains unknown what the exact “error in the information” refers to, and neither Young nor the BBC have shared statements regarding the possible lack of coverage for the headline slot.
If there is to be more information shared about the topic, it will likely come to light when the festival kicks off tomorrow morning.
The headline slot will mark a return to Worthy Farm for Neil Young, as he previously headlined the Pyramid Stage in 2009. That appearance came after he was scheduled to do so 12 years earlier, only to be forced to pull out through an injury. His 2009 set ended with an extended ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’ and a cover of The Beatles’ ‘A Day In The Life’.
Earlier this month, the ‘Heart Of Gold’ singer kicked off his 2025 world tour with Chrome Hearts, performing a series of live rarities and classics in the lead up to Glasto.
The upcoming instalment will mark the last before Glastonbury takes a fallow year in 2026 and, last November, tickets for Glastonbury 2025 sold out in just 32 minutes, with the festival making use of a new queuing system for tickets.
Check back here later this week for more NME coverage of the festival.
