The music legends who turned down Glastonbury and their surprising reasons

For most musicians, being asked to perform at Glastonbury is the sort of career milestone dreams are made of. But it turns out not everyone is quite so desperate for a spot on the Pyramid Stage.

Over the years, some of the biggest names in music have turned down the opportunity to play Worthy Farm, with reasons ranging from money and artistic pride to a rather unexpected disagreement about badgers.

As speculation mounts over who will headline Glastonbury 2027, following the festival’s fallow year, organiser Emily Eavis has confirmed that all three headline acts have already been booked.

And while thousands of fans will be eagerly awaiting the announcement, there are some legendary artists who have made it abundantly clear that an invitation isn’t necessarily enough to get them there.

In fact, a few have taken their rejection of the festival surprisingly personally.

Queen

You’d be hard-pressed to find a band better suited to commanding an enormous Glastonbury crowd than Queen.

Unfortunately, guitarist Brian May has made it quite clear that the band won’t be gracing the Pyramid Stage anytime soon – and it’s all down to the festival founder’s position on badger culling.

May, a passionate animal rights campaigner, has been at odds with Michael Eavis for years over the controversial practice, which Eavis has defended as part of efforts to control bovine tuberculosis in cattle.

In 2019, May told Zoe Ball on Radio 2: ‘We won’t [play Glastonbury] and there are a lot of reasons for that. One of them is that Michael Eavis has frequently insulted me, and I don’t particularly enjoy that. What bothers me more is that he’s in favour of the badger cull, which I regard as a tragedy and an unnecessary crime against wildlife.

‘There’s a little bit of a schism there, I wouldn’t do Glastonbury. Unless things changed radically.’

And it seems time hasn’t softened his position.

Speaking again about the festival in 2026, May reiterated that he wouldn’t perform while the organisers’ stance remained unchanged.

So, for anyone dreaming of hearing Bohemian Rhapsody echoing across Worthy Farm, don’t hold your breath.

Duran Duran

Duran Duran have sold more than 100million records worldwide, so perhaps it’s unsurprising that Simon Le Bon isn’t particularly enthusiastic about being offered an afternoon slot in a tent.

The 80s icons have never played Glastonbury, despite having been approached by organisers.

In 2023, Le Bon explained to The Telegraph that the band had repeatedly declined invitations because the proposed arrangements weren’t quite befitting their superstar status.

‘3pm in the Disco Tent isn’t really where we see ourselves,’ he said.

‘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.’

The singer doubled down in May 2026 to The Sunday Times, insisting that Duran Duran would only accept a headline slot.

‘We shouldn’t be below anybody on the bill,’ he declared.

Still, unlike some of the other artists on this list, Le Bon hasn’t ruled out Glastonbury altogether. In fact, he’d love to do it. He just wants top billing.

Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac were long considered one of Glastonbury’s great missing headline acts, but the band’s absence reportedly came down to money.

In 2019, reports emerged that negotiations to bring the legendary group to Worthy Farm for the festival’s 50th anniversary celebrations had broken down over the fee.

A source told The Sun that Michael Eavis had been particularly keen to secure the band, with discussions initially appearing promising.

However, while Mick Fleetwood was reportedly willing to accept the proposed payment, other members allegedly felt the offer wasn’t worthwhile.

The claims were never publicly confirmed by the band.

Sadly, any hopes of finally seeing the classic group headline were dealt a devastating blow following Christine McVie’s death in 2022, after which the surviving members indicated they would not continue performing as Fleetwood Mac.

The Black Keys

Some artists have never set foot on Glastonbury’s stages, while others have played and decided once was quite enough.

The Black Keys fall firmly into the second category.

The American rock duo previously performed at the festival, but drummer Patrick Carney announced in 2023 that they had absolutely no intention of returning.

The reason? An offer he considered downright offensive.

‘We got an offer from Glastonbury that was so insulting, we’re never going to play the festival again,’ he told NME.

Carney also suggested the festival’s enormous cultural significance in Britain didn’t necessarily translate across the Atlantic.

‘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,’ he said.

‘We have no interest in playing it.’ Not exactly a glowing endorsement.

Nadine Shah

While some stars have objected to their place on the bill, singer-songwriter Nadine Shah raised a rather more practical issue when she rejected an invitation to perform in 2024.

The Mercury Prize-nominated musician revealed she’d been offered a Glastonbury slot but turned it down because it would have cost her too much money.

‘I would have liked to but I wasn’t offered a televised stage so I declined,’ she explained on social media.

‘It’s too expensive a hit for me to take otherwise.’

Shah pointed out that touring comes with significant expenses, and without the benefit of television exposure, performing at the famous festival simply wasn’t financially viable.

‘It’s just a reality that playing live is super expensive,’ she added.

‘We’ve all bills to pay.’

She later explained that the proposed fee was substantially lower than what she’d been offered for other shows, highlighting the financial pressures faced by musicians who don’t have superstar-sized budgets.

The Kinks

Perhaps the most extraordinary Glastonbury rejection happened before the festival had even established itself.

The Kinks were originally lined up to perform at Michael Eavis’ very first event in 1970, when tickets cost just £1 and free milk was included.

However, according to Eavis himself, frontman Ray Davies took offence after reading a music magazine article describing the event 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 doctor’s certificate claiming he had a sore throat and couldn’t perform.

The band never played the festival.

Of course, Glastonbury has since grown from a modest gathering of around 1,500 people into one of the world’s most prestigious music events.

Which rather begs the question: would Davies have been quite so quick to dismiss it if he’d known what was coming?

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