Sir Brian May has insisted Queen won’t perform at Glastonbury next year – or ever – due to political differences.
The 78-year-old musician has previously been adamant that his group wouldn’t play at the iconic Somerset festival because of his dispute with founder Michael Eavis over badger culling in the countryside.
Rock icon Sir Brian has now reiterated that his Bohemian Rhapsody band won’t make an exception at next year’s spectacle on Worthy Farm, when it returns after a fallow year.
The animal activist, who founded the Save Me Trust to protect the welfare and dignity of wild animals including badgers and foxes, told The Daily Mail: ‘I wouldn’t do Glastonbury next year because of the politics of the people who run it, unless that changes, I won’t do it.
‘They like killing badgers, and they think it’s for sport and that’s something I cannot support because we’ve been trying to save these badgers for years, and they are still being killed for years, so that’s the reason we’re missing out on it.’
Queen is one of the most successful acts in the history of music, having sold roughly 300 million records and had massive hits including We Will Rock You, Another One Bites the Dust and Don’t Stop Me Now.
Quizzed on whether the band had repeatedly turned down Glastonbury appearances, Sir Brian insisted they haven’t been asked because of his views.
‘I don’t think the conversation of us doing has ever taken place because they know how I feel,’ he shared.
Dairy farmer Eavis, 90, previously branded Sir Brian a ‘danger to farming’ over his views on badger culling, which is done to prevent the spread of bovine TB.
Cows can be easily infected with the debilitating disease, and the entire herd can be at risk.
However, while Sir Brian has confirmed his political stance on the festival at the Cirque du Soleil ‘OVO’ VIP premiere at Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday night, he previously admitted it is ‘not impossible’ that Queen could play at Glastonbury.
Speaking in 2023, he told The Guardian: ‘You can never say never, but it’s a very big matter of principle to me.
‘I am convinced, more than ever, that the badger cull is the greatest crime this country has ever committed against wildlife. It’s completely pointless and the tragedy is immense: you’re talking about nearly half a million native animals killed and it’s not benefited farmers one bit.
‘The fact that Michael Eavis supports badger-culling is difficult for me to swallow.’
Would you want to see Queen perform at Glastonbury?
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Yes, it would be a perfect rock show setting for them
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No, I respect Brian May's personal reasons for not
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There are other musical acts I'd rather see at Glastonbury
But the star went on to add that while he didn’t really want to ‘endorse his festival’, it was ‘not impossible that we could sit down and talk’ as he will always ‘talk to anyone’ because ‘that’s the way we go forward’.
The legendary Queen guitarist revealed in 2024 that he had suffered a minor stroke, losing control of his left arm in what he called a ‘scary’ incident.
But since his stroke, he has appeared on stage to perform – even joining Benson Boone on stage at Coachella last summer – although the live future of Queen, who now tour with US singer Adam Lambert, has been uncertain.
After Freddie Mercury’s death in 1991, the band didn’t perform live for some time, with John Deacon retiring from the group in 1997. Sir Brian and Roger Taylor continued to make sporadic appearances together and in 2004, they began performing as a trio.
In 2004, Queen began performing live again with Paul Rodgers as their lead vocalist, before Lambert took over in 2011.
The Rhapsody Tour was their last globe-trotting series of shows, which took place in 2023 and 2024
However, Sir Brian’s wife, actress Anita Dobson, 76, revealed there won’t be any world tours in the group’s future in December.
‘They will do little bits and bobs, but they won’t do those big tours,’ she said, according to The Mirror.
‘We are all getting old.’
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