NEIL Young has pulled out of performing at Glastonbury this summer.
And the rock legend has also slammed the festival in a shock rant, saying it was under “corporate control” of its broadcaster, The BBC.
The 79 year old was set to perform at the Worthy Farm event later this year, along with his new band The Chrome Hearts.
But in a surprising u-turn, he has changed his mind.
Neil wrote on his website: “The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all time favorite outdoor gigs.
“We were told the BBC was now a partner in Glastonbury and wanted us to do a lot of things in a way that we were not interested in. 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. Hope to see you at one of the other venues on the tour.”
Neil has been in many bands over the years including Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and Crazy Horse.
The Sun previously exclusively revealed that Neil would be heading to Glasto this summer.
We reported last month that the comeback would mark 16 years since Neil played his epic headline Pyramid Stage set.
A source told us at the time: “Neil and his band The Chrome Hearts are firming up plans for European dates next year and Glastonbury is on the cards.
“Neil last performed there in 2009 and his headline set on the Pyramid Stage was incredible.
“He is keen to play a handful of big shows in Europe and his team are keen to get him on the line-up.
“With Sir Rod Stewart confirmed to play, if Emily Eavis can get Neil on board too there would be two huge legends on the line up. Stevie Wonder is also in the mix for this year as well as The 1975.
Last summer Neil cancelled a series of gigs on his Crazy Horse tour due to ill health.
In a statement last June, he revealed that sickness has been hitting “a couple of us” in the band since their last performance the month before.
“The Love Earth Tour has been a great experience for us so far,” his statement, posted to his website, began.
“GREAT AUDIENCES AND MUSIC. WE HAVE HAD A BLAST!”
Neil continued: “When a couple of us got sick after Detroit’s Pine Knob, we had to stop. We are still not fully recovered, so sadly our great tour will have a big unplanned break.
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D101203%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]“We will try to play some of the dates we miss as time passes when we are ready to rock again! We know many of you made travel plans and we apologize for the inconvenience.”
“Thanks for your understanding and patience,” he wrote.
“Health is # 1…. We want to stay and do more shows and more albums for you… and for us…. With love and thanks to all of you from Crazy Horse…. Neil, Micah, Ralph, and Billy… Love Earth.”
