Emily Eavis “does not believe” Neil Young’s Glastonbury 2025 set will be shown by BBC 

Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis has said that she “does not believe” Neil Young’s headline set will be shown by the BBC.

• READ MORE: Glastonbury Festival 2025: See the full line-up, stage times and stage splits

Speculation about whether or not Young’s headline set with The Chrome Hearts would be shown by the broadcaster started yesterday (June 24), when the broadcaster revealed its itinerary for the 2025 festival.

The Canadian singer-songwriter is set to perform on Saturday (June 28) on the main Pyramid Stage at the Worthy Farm site. However, it appeared that his set would not be shown in BBC coverage as a recent article did not mention his name.

It was published following the ‘Harvest Moon’ singer briefly backing out of the festival due to the BBC coverage seemingly being “a corporate turn-off” for him. He would later rejoin the bill and describe the situation as a misunderstanding.

While the BBC report stated that it would be showing “some of the anticipated sets from the likes of The 1975, Rod Stewart, Olivia Rodrigo, Raye, Charli XCX and many more”, Young’s name was not mentioned for coverage on television, iPlayer nor on the radio.

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.

It was not clear why Young’s name was not included, and there were some doubts over whether he would have his set aired or not.

Now, Eavis has spoken to the outlet’s entertainment correspondent Colin Patterson, and said that she does not think BBC will show the live show in its coverage.

“I asked Emily Eavis, ‘What was going on?’, and she said she does not believe that Neil Young’s set will be broadcast by the BBC,” Patterson said (via Far Out). “There’s been all kinds of backstage wrangling and negotiations, but as things currently stand, Neil Young’s headline set on Saturday night will not be broadcast 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 aforementioned comments made by the ‘Heart Of Gold’ songwriter about Glastonbury’s partnership with the BBC.

They were made at the end of 2024, when Young 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.

“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… 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!”

It remains unknown what the exact “error in the information” refers to, and 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.”

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.

You can find the latest weather forecasts for Glastonbury 2025 here and check back here for more NME coverage of the festival.

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