It’s become one of the most popular music festivals in the world. Each summer, major artists like Coldplay, Paul McCartney and the Cure make it a favored stop on their tours. Thousands of fans flock for the entertainment.
But Glastonbury will have to continue to do without one of the world’s most celebrated music acts: Queen.
As founding guitarist Brian May tells The Daily Mail, he is a longtime animal rights activist and the founder of the Save Me Trust to protect wild foxes and badgers. Unfortunately, Glastonbury’s organizers act in direct conflict with May’s organization.
“I wouldn’t do Glastonbury next year because of the politics of the people who run it,” May tells The Daily Mail. “Unless that changes, I won’t do it.”
Michael Eavis, a dairy farmer who is a co-founder of the Glastonbury Festival, supports badger culling, saying it is necessary to prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis.
May thinks that’s just an excuse to kill the animals.
“They like killing badgers, and they think it’s for sport,” he says. “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.”
But whether Queen will return to touring at all is another matter altogether. The band’s last performance was for the Rhapsody tour, in February 2024, with singer Adam Lambert. Unfortunately, since suffering a stroke in September of that year, the 78-year-old guitarist has significantly altered his approach to live music and is likely ending full-scale world tours.
While he initially lost control of his left arm, May has since made a recovery and returned to the stage with his iconic Red Special electric guitar, although he is pacing himself and focusing on his health
“I don’t know when Queen will be back onstage,” he tells The Daily Mail. “It’s an unknown. We’ll take it day by day. It was time to take a break and spend time with family, take stock.
“But never say never about not coming back,” he adds tellingly. “The rebuild of Queen II is coming back, and there are a couple of things you haven’t heard.”
