For many musicians, being requested to carry out at Glastonbury is the type of profession milestone goals are product of. Nevertheless it seems not everybody is kind of so determined for a spot on the Pyramid Stage.
Over time, among the greatest names in music have turned down the chance to play Worthy Farm, with causes starting from cash and inventive delight to a slightly sudden disagreement about badgers.
As hypothesis mounts over who will headline Glastonbury 2027, following the competition’s fallow yr, organiser Emily Eavis has confirmed that each one three headline acts have already been booked.
And whereas hundreds of followers will likely be eagerly awaiting the announcement, there are some legendary artists who’ve made it abundantly clear that an invite isn’t essentially sufficient to get them there.
In reality, a couple of have taken their rejection of the competition surprisingly personally.
Queen
You’d be hard-pressed to discover a band higher suited to commanding an infinite Glastonbury crowd than Queen.
Sadly, guitarist Brian Might has made it fairly clear that the band received’t be gracing the Pyramid Stage anytime quickly – and it’s all right down to the competition founder’s place on badger culling.
Might, a passionate animal rights campaigner, has been at odds with Michael Eavis for years over the controversial follow, which Eavis has defended as a part of efforts to regulate bovine tuberculosis in cattle.
In 2019, Might instructed Zoe Ball on Radio 2: ‘We received’t [play Glastonbury] and there are a variety of causes for that. One among them is that Michael Eavis has often insulted me, and I don’t significantly take pleasure in that. What bothers me extra is that he’s in favour of the badger cull, which I regard as a tragedy and an pointless crime in opposition to wildlife.
‘There’s a bit little bit of a schism there, I wouldn’t do Glastonbury. Except issues modified radically.’
And it appears time hasn’t softened his place.
Talking once more concerning the competition in 2026, Might reiterated that he wouldn’t carry out whereas the organisers’ stance remained unchanged.
So, for anybody dreaming of listening to Bohemian Rhapsody echoing throughout Worthy Farm, don’t maintain your breath.
Duran Duran
Duran Duran have bought greater than 100million data worldwide, so maybe it’s unsurprising that Simon Le Bon isn’t significantly smitten by being provided a day slot in a tent.
The 80s icons have by no means performed Glastonbury, regardless of having been approached by organisers.
In 2023, Le Bon defined to The Telegraph that the band had repeatedly declined invites as a result of the proposed preparations weren’t fairly befitting their famous person standing.
‘3pm within the Disco Tent isn’t actually the place we see ourselves,’ he stated.
‘A very long time in the past I vowed I’d by no means set foot in Glastonbury except it was on the Pyramid Stage at an honest hour of the evening.’
The singer doubled down in Might 2026 to The Sunday Occasions, insisting that Duran Duran would solely settle for a headline slot.
‘We shouldn’t be under anyone on the invoice,’ he declared.
Nonetheless, not like among the different artists on this checklist, Le Bon hasn’t dominated out Glastonbury altogether. In reality, he’d like to do it. He simply needs high billing.
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac have been lengthy thought-about certainly one of Glastonbury’s nice lacking headline acts, however the band’s absence reportedly got here right down to cash.
In 2019, studies emerged that negotiations to deliver the legendary group to Worthy Farm for the competition’s fiftieth anniversary celebrations had damaged down over the payment.
A supply instructed The Solar that Michael Eavis had been significantly eager to safe the band, with discussions initially showing promising.
Nevertheless, whereas Mick Fleetwood was reportedly keen to simply accept the proposed cost, different members allegedly felt the supply wasn’t worthwhile.
The claims have been by no means publicly confirmed by the band.
Sadly, any hopes of lastly seeing the traditional group headline have been dealt a devastating blow following Christine McVie’s dying in 2022, after which the surviving members indicated they might not proceed performing as Fleetwood Mac.
The Black Keys
Some artists have by no means set foot on Glastonbury’s phases, whereas others have performed and determined as soon as was fairly sufficient.
The Black Keys fall firmly into the second class.
The American rock duo beforehand carried out on the competition, however drummer Patrick Carney introduced in 2023 that they’d completely no intention of returning.
The explanation? A suggestion he thought-about downright offensive.
‘We received a suggestion from Glastonbury that was so insulting, we’re by no means going to play the competition once more,’ he instructed NME.
Carney additionally steered the competition’s monumental cultural significance in Britain didn’t essentially translate throughout the Atlantic.
‘We all know it’s an enormous deal for folks within the UK however the weight of what the competition is doesn’t translate to most People,’ he stated.
‘We now have little interest in taking part in it.’ Not precisely a glowing endorsement.
Nadine Shah
Whereas some stars have objected to their place on the invoice, singer-songwriter Nadine Shah raised a slightly extra sensible situation when she rejected an invite to carry out in 2024.
The Mercury Prize-nominated musician revealed she’d been provided a Glastonbury slot however turned it down as a result of it might have value her an excessive amount of cash.
‘I’d have preferred to however I wasn’t provided a televised stage so I declined,’ she defined on social media.
‘It’s too costly successful for me to take in any other case.’
Shah identified that touring comes with vital bills, and with out the good thing about tv publicity, performing on the well-known competition merely wasn’t financially viable.
‘It’s only a actuality that taking part in reside is tremendous costly,’ she added.
‘We’ve all payments to pay.’
She later defined that the proposed payment was considerably decrease than what she’d been provided for different exhibits, highlighting the monetary pressures confronted by musicians who don’t have superstar-sized budgets.
The Kinks
Maybe probably the most extraordinary Glastonbury rejection occurred earlier than the competition had even established itself.
The Kinks have been initially lined as much as carry out at Michael Eavis’ very first occasion in 1970, when tickets value simply £1 and free milk was included.
Nevertheless, based on Eavis himself, frontman Ray Davies took offence after studying a music journal article describing the occasion as a ‘mini-festival’.
Apparently unimpressed by the prospect, Davies withdrew the band from the line-up.
Eavis later recalled that the singer even obtained a health care provider’s certificates claiming he had a sore throat and couldn’t carry out.
The band by no means performed the competition.
After all, Glastonbury has since grown from a modest gathering of round 1,500 folks into one of many world’s most prestigious music occasions.
Which slightly begs the query: would Davies have been fairly so fast to dismiss it if he’d identified what was coming?
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