Fresh from the controversy surrounding the announcement of Kanye West as this year’s Glastonbury headliner, Dave Rowntree has offered his own opinion on why the decision was made. After confirming his band won’t be joining this year’s line up, the Blur drummer waded in on the argument with his view that West was chosen in the absence of rock bands who fit the bill. Speaking to radio station XFM, he also blamed the music industry as a whole for the lack of support given to emerging artists saying “record companies are looking for fully established artists with a first album and a fan base all intact and ready to go. The reality is that music doesn’t work that way“.
A petition to prevent West performing at the festival hit 125,000 signatures last week forcing Glastonbury organizer Emily Eavis to defend the decision to book the ‘always interesting, never boring’ artist, who will be joining The Foo Fighters as a headliner this Summer. With past acts including Jay Z and Beyonce having successfully taken to the stage, Rowntree admits the Eavis family aren’t afraid to ‘think outside the box’ when it comes to forming the line up. Blur meanwhile will be performing in Hyde Park this Summer with their new album The Magic Whip due for release on the 27th of April.
#Peace.Love.Glastonbury
