Glastonbury Organizers Support Kanye West Despite Public Upset

The announcement of Kanye West's headline appearance at the upcoming 2015 Glastonbury festival was met with a fair amount of upset, as some fans went as far as to start a petition to have his performance cancelled. But the organizers of the event aren't backing down from their decision and have publicly lent their support to the controversial rapper.

Emily Eavis, who first announced Kanye's headlining slot via Twitter, struck back at petitioners by writing a post for the Guardian backing Kanye. She wrote, "Every year there are complaints and often outrage. We're well used to that. We've had it in recent years with Jay Z, Beyonce, Metallica and plenty of others. We even had it in 1984 when we booked the Smiths, because people wanted Hawkwind again! This year is no different."

The post continued, as Eavis expressed a need to respond to this particular petition against Kanye. She wrote, "One of the world’s biggest superstars and a music legend, always interesting, never boring. He has agreed to play a festival where headliners get paid a fraction of their normal rate in support of Oxfam, Water Aid and Greenpeace as well as thousands of other worthy causes. We think that’s pretty great."

Eavis also addressed the idea that many concert goers who signed the petition (which is titled "Cancel Kanye West’s headline slot and get a rock band," and has accrued more than 100,000 signatures) were complaining about the fact that Kanye is not a rock artist. She wrote, "To say that our headliners should be “rock” is, I think, a bit silly. Those acts never have been limited to rock, and they never will be. Stevie Wonder, the Prodigy, Curtis Mayfield, the Chemical Brothers, Jay Z, Gorillaz, Beyoncé and plenty of others prove that."

Sticking to her stance, Eavis ended the note by writing, "Ultimately, there is no question in my mind that we have got one of the greatest artists of his generation headlining, and we have no regrets at all about booking him...I certainly can’t wait to see his performance."

The Glastonbury festival takes place from June 24 to 28th with both the Foo Fighters and Lionel Richie set to headline the first night. The rest of the line-up will be released this spring.

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