The Glastonbury 2025 line-up has been announced, with three headliners spanning a range of different genres. But there may be one huge reason why even bigger names don’t sign up
There is one big reason why the biggest names in music might not sign up for Glastonbury.
The 2025 Glastonbury Festival line-up has been announced today, with some branding it the “worst ever”. The 1975, Olivia Rodrigo, Neil Young and Sir Rod Stewart are high up on the billing.
Rumours of the line-up leaked hours earlier, after a poster appeared online showing all of their names. And while some fans have been left disappointed, there’s a major reason a number of acts refuse to sign on the dotted line.
To put it simply: money. Specifically, not being offered enough of it.
Almost 10 years ago, in 2017, festival organiser Emily Eavis revealed that the artists who appear get paid less than 10% of what they would at other festivals. Glasto bosses instead donate around £2million to charities if the festival is taking place that year.
In 2020, music industry expert Dr Iain Taylor told Metro.co.uk that Paul McCartney had been paid £200,000, “compared to fees of up to £4m that McCartney has demanded elsewhere”.
Last year, Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA took the headline slots. Many head been expecting the likes of Taylor Swift or Madonna, instead.
Instead of playing Glastonbury last year, Taylor performed at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium for three nights on her world tour. It’s reported that her ticket sales have grossed more than £790million – much more than any money offered by Glasto. Although, it should be noted that Taylor had been due to headline in 2020, though the festival was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic.
The Telegraph reported Madonna turned down the Legends slot last year too, after disagreeing on the fee.
Smaller acts have been much more vocal about it in the past. Nadine Shah had been scheduled to perform in 2024 before turning it down.
She wrote on social media: “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.”
Nadine explained: “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 play.”
Remembering that, for some artists the prestige of performing at Glastonbury outweighs the fee they might get. Of course, appearing on a primetime BBC televised time-slot also softens the financial blow, giving acts the chance to widen their audience.
Like Nadine, The Black Keys turned down appearing at Glasto in 2023. Drummer Patrick Carney told 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.”
It’s also believed that Fleetwood Mac have said no, too. In 2019, a source told The Sun that “while Mick Fleetwood was up for it with the money on offer, other members didn’t feel it was worthwhile”.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
