File: Folk legend Neil Young. AFP/Alice Chiche
LONDON - Folk legend Neil Young has pulled out of this year's Glastonbury music festival, alleging it has fallen under "the corporate control" of its partner the BBC.
The 79-year-old musician, who was once one of the line-up of the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, said he had been "looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all-time favourite outdoor gigs".
But he added that the "BBC... wanted us to do a lot of things in a way we were not interested in" at the festival held in late June in southwest England.
"It seems Glastonbury is under corporate control," the US-Canadian singer and songwriter claimed in a statement on his website.
"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."
Neither the festival organisers nor the BBC replied to AFP requests for comment on Young's withdrawal.
The full official line-up for the world-famous festival has not been announced yet.
But rumours had swirled that Young and his group The Chrome Hearts would be taking to the stage at the festival's home at Worthy Farm, in the county Somerset.
Young, who last played Glastonbury in 2009, did not give specific details of what the BBC's demands had been.
In 2009, fans accused the BBC of not broadcasting the whole of his set.
The broadcaster said at the time that it had spent "months" negotiating with Young's team what they could screen of his show.
"Neil's management agreed to let TV and radio broadcast five songs as they watched and listened to his performance. They believe in the live event and retaining its mystery and that of their artist," the BBC said then.
Tickets for this year's festival sold out within 35 minutes when they went on sale in November, with standard tickets priced at £373.50 ($471.50).