Legendary rock band Queen will never grace the stage at the Glastonbury Festival, guitarist Sir Brian May has definitively stated. The reason, he reveals, is an irreconcilable political clash with the festival's organisers, the Eavis family, over the contentious issue of the badger cull.
The Political Divide: Badgers and Farming
Sir Brian, a long-time animal rights activist and founder of the Save Me Trust, told the Daily Mail that the festival's politics are a direct barrier. "I wouldn't do Glastonbury next year because of the politics of the people who run it," the 78-year-old said. "Unless that changes, I won't do it."
He elaborated that the core of the dispute is the organisers' stance on wildlife. "They like killing badgers, and they think it's for sport... that's something I cannot support," May stated, referencing the cull aimed at preventing bovine TB. He emphasised his decades-long campaign to protect the animals, saying, "We've been trying to save these badgers for years."
A Long-Standing Feud with Festival Founder
This public declaration confirms a long-simmering feud. Glastonbury founder Sir Michael Eavis, a 90-year-old dairy farmer, has previously labelled May a "danger to farming" for his opposition to the cull. May confirmed that the disagreement is so fundamental that a formal offer for Queen to play has likely never been on the table. "I don't think the conversation of us doing it has ever taken place because they know how I feel," he admitted.
The news may come as a relief to his wife, actress Anita Dobson, who has publicly pleaded with her husband of 26 years to stop touring, simply stating, "I want him home." May's animal rights convictions run deep; he once resigned as vice-president of the RSPCA over welfare standards in farms certified under its scheme.
Queen's Future and Film Criticism
While ruling out Glastonbury, the future of Queen's performances remains open-ended. May, who tours with drummer Roger Taylor and singer Adam Lambert, said, "I don't know when Queen will be back on stage, it's an unknown." He hinted at new musical projects, mentioning a "rebuild of Queen Two" and "a couple of things you haven't heard."
Separately, Sir Brian criticised filmmaker Sam Mendes's plan for four separate Beatles biopics. "I would dread it if that happened to Queen," he said, calling the multi-film approach a "horrible kind of thing" that fosters competition between band members. He expressed satisfaction with the existing Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, stating, "I feel very proud that we did it for Freddie."
With the world-famous festival taking a fallow year, the door appears permanently closed for one of rock's greatest acts, all due to a profound disagreement over wildlife policy and animal welfare.
