Glastonbury 2015: Stephen Hawking pulls out of festival due to 'personal reasons'

The physicist has reportedly cancelled his appearance due to ill health

Daisy Wyatt,Jamie Merrill
Sunday 28 June 2015 13:43 BST
Comments
Stephen Hawking is reportedly taking steps to trademark his name
Stephen Hawking is reportedly taking steps to trademark his name (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Stephen Hawking has had to cancel his appearance at Glastonbury festival.

The renown physicist was due to give a talk on Friday 26 June at the Worthy Farm Kidz Field.

“For personal reasons Stephen Hawkins will not be able to visit Glastonbury this year,” said a spokesperson for Cambridge University.

Glastonbury officials had been coy about the exact timings of Hawking's talk and it has been widely speculated that he was likely to cancel, amid speculation over possible ill-health.

Hawking, who was recently portrayed by Eddie Redmayne in the Oscar-winning film The Theory of Everything, was due to "wow" children with his gravitational theories - but the exact content of his talk at the festival was unknown.

The 73-year-old has previously written children's books about physics, including George's Secret Key to the Universe and George and the Unbreakable code, which he co-wrote with his daughter Lucy Hawking.

Hawking was diagnosed with motor neuron disease at the age of 21 and was given just months to live. The physicist has lived with the condition for five decades, communicating with a single cheek muscle attached to a speech-generating device.

He sometimes finds it hards to breath and has to use a ventilator.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in