All the artists who refuse to play at Glastonbury Festival 2025

For many artists, playing a slot at the coveted Glastonbury Festival is a huge career goal – as Dua Lipa told the crowd in 2024 during her headline performance.

But others are ditching this notion, put off the Worthy Farm festival for a number of reasons.

The only act confirmed so far for the Glastonbury 2025 line up is Sir Rod Stewart, who will be taking the Sunday legends slot. It is expected the full line up will be revealed in the coming weeks.

We also know that after previously announcing that he wouldn’t be playing the festival, Neil Young has decided to perform afterall.

He cited an ‘error in information’ for his initial withdrawal.

Others rumoured for an appearance in 2025 before the fallow year in 2026 are The 1975, Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles, Greenday, Sam Fender and Eminem.

But here are artists who have refused Glastonbury slots – with some even vowing to never perform at the festival in the future.

Nadine Shah

Last year pop star Nadine Shah announced she had been approached to perform in 2024, but would not be among last year’s Glastonbury line-up because the fee was too low.

Confirming that she turned down the gig, Shah wrote, ‘The rumours are untrue. I am NOT playing @glastonbury I would have liked to but I wasn’t offered a televised stage so I declined. It’s too expensive a hit for me to take otherwise.’

She then shared a follow-up post, which read: ‘It’s just a reality that playing live is super expensive and if you can justify the costs (like being on telly and having a wider reach) then sometimes you take the hit. Otherwise no, we’ve all bills to pay.’

Festival organisers Michael and Emily Eavis said in an interview with BBC 6 Music’s Matt Everitt that in 2017 headliners Katy Perry, Radiohead, and Ed Sheeran were offered ‘less than 10 per cent of what they’d get paid from playing any of the other major British festivals.’

Just weeks ago Sir Rod Stewart revealed getting his band back from the US to perform at Glastonbury meant appearing at the festival was going to cost him a total of £300,000.

Duran Duran

Duran Duran are not Hungry Like The Wolf to play Glastonbury Festival.

Singer Simon Le Bon told The Telegraph in 2023 that the band has been approached to perform, but has always turned it down ‘on principle.’

‘3pm in the Disco Tent isn’t really where we see ourselves. A long time ago I vowed I would never set foot in Glastonbury unless it was on the Pyramid Stage at a decent hour of the night,’ he said.

‘I’ve been asked to camp, to glamp and invited to fly in and out by helicopter. I’ve always refused on principle.’

Queen

Queen’s live show has headline slot written all over it, but the band has so far refused to play thanks to one thing – badgers.

Guitarist Brian May, a staunch advocate for British wildlife and the conservation of badgers, has famously repeatedly turned down Glastonbury due to founder Michael Eavis’ pro-badger cull stance.

In 2019, May told Zoe Ball on her BBC Radio 2 show that Eavis has ‘frequently insulted him’ and is ‘in favour of the badger cull, which I regard as a tragedy and an unnecessary crime against wildlife.’

He reaffirmed his stance in 2023, telling The Sun: ‘As the man who runs it advocates killing badgers for no good reason and I could never level with that [playing Glastonbury].

‘Have they tried to book us? I think the feeling is mutual so I think they understand how I feel.’

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The Black Keys

The Black Keys have played Glastonbury in the past, but have vowed never to return again.

In 2023 drummer Patrick Carney said the band turned down the festival after receiving an ‘insulting’ offer – though it’s unclear whether this refers to pay, slot, or stage arrangements.

He claimed in an interview with NME: ‘We got an offer from Glastonbury that was so insulting, we’re never going to play the festival again.

‘We know it’s a big deal for people in the UK but the weight of what the festival is doesn’t translate to most Americans. We have no interest in playing it.’

Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac doused any hopes of playing live again following the death of Christine McVie.

But long before then, they have turned down a slot at Glastonbury reportedly due to being given a low offer to perform.

A source told The Sun in 2019: ‘Michael Eavis is a huge fan and really, really wanted to make it work. He knew getting them on board for the 50th anniversary would be extra special and conversations were positive.

‘They even hinted at it on stage when they played Wembley in June, joking to fans they still had, “a big field to play at a rained-out festival in England next year.”

‘But ultimately, while Mick Fleetwood was up for it with the money on offer, other members didn’t feel it was worthwhile.’

The Kinks

Once upon a time, The Kinks were due to play Glastonbury but reportedly pulled out.

Why? Rumour has it that the iconic rock band declined a performance after seeing it described as a ‘mini-festival’ in a newspaper.

They were set to perform at the first ever Glastonbury, which cost just £1 to enter with Eavis telling press ‘playing skittles’ was the pinnacle of local culture at the event.

Ray Davies from The Kinks, after reading the article, faked a doctor’s note due to a sore throat and the band never performed.

This article was first published on June 24, 2024.

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