Glastonbury Festival 2014: why did Prince pull out?| News |

(Image credit: 3RD Eye Girl's PR website)

published 23 June 2014

Prince was in talks to play at Glastonbury this year but pulled out due to "social media rumours", according to the festival's founder Michael Eavis.

Eavis has revealed that the Glastonbury team wanted Prince to play at the festival, which takes place this weekend, and were in talks with his agents. However, the star "got really upset" because he thought they had advertised that he would be playing before he had confirmed."We hadn't, but with social media, rumours get everywhere, and one of those rumours was that Prince was coming," Eavis told The Guardian. "So he didn't want to do it in the end."Arcade Fire, Metallica and Kasabian have since been announced as the headline acts.Eavis said that "social media chit-chat" about who might be playing does not help the organisers. "People think we've advertised them early, but there'd be no point to us leaking details because the tickets sell out in an hour in October, before the headline acts are announced," he said. "People come for what the event means to them, not the headline acts."Nevertheless, The Sun is insisting that Prince is still in talks to play at the festival. A "source" told the newspaper that he wants to "show up somewhere as a surprise", adding: "He has spent so much time in the UK lately, he'd love to do an impromptu set."The Purple Rain singer toured the UK last month, receiving numerous five-star reviews. He reportedly issued a list of demands to the hotels he stayed at along the way, including a ban on paintings or photos of animals or faces, books, "obstructive rugs" and stairs.