Seventies music legend lined up for Glastonbury 16 years after headlining festival as he plots huge European shows
NEXT summer will mark 16 years since Neil Young played his epic headline Pyramid Stage set at Glastonbury.
And insiders tell me the Heart Of Gold rocker is hoping to make a return to Worthy Farm.
A source said: “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.
“Glastonbury appears to be leaning back into its roots of rock, and if they can secure Neil it would be an amazing addition to what is already shaping up to be an incredible line up.”
Last month Neil revealed that he was reworking plans for a European tour — and wanted to scrap the indoor plans for outdoor gigs.
Eagle-eyed fans
Writing on his website, Neil said: “Indoor concerts could be too risky for health reasons and we don’t want to have to cancel any concerts for health reasons next summer.”
Instead Neil and The Chrome Hearts will be performing at big outdoor venues from next spring across Europe and the UK.
Yesterday, eagle-eyed fans spotted that Neil’s website had also been updated to include a picture of a ticket from 2009’s Glastonbury.
It was put on to Neil’s “timeline” and included a letter from a fan who said he’d got back together with his ex during Neil’s headline slot.
The show won five-star reviews from critics at the time and saw Neil playing a set packed full of hits including Cinnamon Girl, Down By The River and Rockin’ In The Free World.
I’d expect nothing less the second time around.
Brit's B'day
BRITNEY SPEARS celebrated her 43rd birthday by finally being declared legally single.
She filed for divorce from model and actor Sam Asghari in August last year after just 14 months of marriage, and the split was finally completed through legal paperwork yesterday.
The couple had a pre-nup which didn’t leave Sam with much, but he has now moved on with a property agent called Brooke Irvine.
As for Britney, things are finally looking up as she has reconnected with her son Jayden and has been taking care of herself.
Good to hear.
Priyanka turns on full beam
THEY celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary at the weekend, and judging by the smile on Priyanka Chopra’s face, she is still very happy indeed with pop star husband Nick Jonas.
The couple enjoyed an evening out in New York to mark the occasion, with actress Priyanka throwing a peace sign to cameras as she hopped into a minibus before heading home.
Nick has just come off a Jonas Brothers tour which took him across Europe, while Priyanka has spent months away shooting an action drama called The Bluff and the second series of spy drama Citadel.
They do say distance makes the heart grow fonder, so perhaps that’s why these two lovebirds have already outlasted the majority of showbiz romances.
Tim snips sequel in the bud
TIM BURTON has ruled out ever making a sequel to Edward Scissorhands, despite the success this year of his Beetlejuice Beetlejuice follow-up.
The 1990 movie starring Johnny Depp was a big hit and is still popular today – but that isn’t enough to persuade Tim to direct another movie about the constructed man with scissors for hands.
The quirky director said: “I didn’t want to make a sequel to that because it felt like a one-off thing.
“I didn’t want to have a sequel for The Nightmare Before Christmas because it also felt like a one-off thing.
“Certain things are best left on their own, and that, for me, is one of them.”
Having included Johnny in many of his films, such as Sweeney Todd and Alice In Wonderland, they haven’t worked together since 2012.
But asked if he expected another project with him, Tim said: “I’m sure there will be.”
Stormzy beat bug in Dubai
STORMZY bounced back from an infection to perform in Dubai on Sunday.
The grime star revealed he had been struck down hours before the show and was so ill he was put on an IV drip to get him well enough to take to the stage.
Luckily, he was able to pull it together to headline a concert for the Emirates Dubai 7s, which is the biggest sports and entertainment festival in the Middle East.
I can see why he was eager to go through with it, given he was no doubt being paid an absolute fortune.
Word on the street is that when he hasn’t been performing, Stormzy has been hard at work laying down new music.
It has been two years since he put out his last album This Is What I Mean, so I’ve got a sneaky suspicion we will hear much more from him in 2025.
Moana madness
MOANA 2 had the biggest animated opening weekend of 2024 at the box office, taking £12million in the UK.
The huge Disney movie sees Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson return to voice demi-god Maui, following the success of the original 2016 film.
Nicole Scherzinger also puts in a return to voice Sina.
McFly to soar at Forest
McFLY are joining acts including Gary Barlow and The Script on the bill for next year’s Forest Live shows.
The boy band will play Forestry England Westonbirt Arboretum on June 21.
Rag ’N’ Bone Man, Blossoms, Elbow, Snow Patrol and Paul Heaton have also been booked for the shows next summer.
Sting, who is also playing a Forest Live gig, yesterday announced two more intimate London shows as part of his Sting 3.0 world tour.
He will play the O2 Forum in Kentish Town on October 24 and the Eventim Apollo on October 26.
Tickets for McFly’s concert and Sting’s new gigs both go on sale this Friday at 10am.
Remembering Caroline
FLACKSTOCK – the festival set up in memory of Caroline Flack – is moving to South London’s Crystal Palace Bowl in 2025.
The event, which will have its line-up announced in the new year, takes place on August 8.
It was previously held at Englefield House, Berks, where it raised £600,000 for good causes.
Taylor Swiftly hits No1
TAYLOR SWIFT is set to catapult back to No1 in the album charts with
The Tortured Poets Department, five months after it last hit the top spot.
The superstar’s 11th album came out in April and spent eight weeks in pole position, and is now way out in front in this week’s race too, after she released the expanded Anthology edition on CD and vinyl.
When it first dropped, Tay sold 270,000 copies in seven days – the biggest opening week for an album in seven years – so it’s a wonder there are any fans left not already owning it.
But I’ve no doubt there will be plenty more unwrapping a copy on Christmas morning.
Meanwhile, just like clockwork, Michael Buble is also set to re-enter the festive charts this Friday.
Midweek data from Official Charts shows his 2011 album Christmas has risen to No6.
Apple a daddy’s twirl
GWYNETH PALTROW and Chris Martin were the proudest of parents as their daughter Apple made a splash at Le Bal des Debutantes – a high-society event held annually in Paris.
The model wore a blue haute couture Valentino dress with a black bow as she danced with her Coldplay singer dad at the event.
Apple was also accompanied by her younger brother Moses and actress grandmother Blythe Danner.
The university student, who is on a break from her English and law, history and society degree in the States, posed with her family in an Instagram post shared by actress Gwyneth with the caption: “A special long weekend in Paris.”