Glastonbury 2015 line-up: Petition to ban Kanye West from headlining reaches 55,000 signatures
Most people complaining do not think hip-hop music belongs at the festival
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Your support makes all the difference.Thousands of people have signed an online petition demanding that rapper Kanye West’s headline slot at Glastonbury Festival be cancelled.
Neil Lonsdale from Norfolk sent an e-letter to the Eavis family on change.org, asking that they reverse their decision to book an “egotistical, maniacal disgrace” and “get a rock band” instead.
More than 55,500 supporters have added their signatures to the petition, which describes the “Touch the Sky” star as “an insult to music fans all over the world”.
“We spend hundreds of pounds to attend Glasto, and by doing so, expect a certain level of entertainment,” the message reads.
“Kanye has been very outspoken on his views on music…he should listen to his own advice and pass his headline slot on to someone deserving! Let’s prevent this musical injustice now!”
Many of those in favour of banning Kanye from Glastonbury believe that hip-hop has no place at Worthy Farm and that the rapper does not represent the festival’s traditional values.
“Did you see Kanye on the Brits?”, one angry fan wrote. “Forty people jumping up and down in the dark on stage is not the standard expected from the raw, live, electrifying experience of Glastonbury.”
Others were wary of the idea of having “[Kanye’s reality TV star wife] Kim, the entourage and crew waltzing around”, while one joked about the Jeremy Clarkson fiasco, suggesting that if Kanye “can’t be removed from the bill he should be forced to do community service in the form of outside catering for Top Gear”.
Lonsdale told NME that he has never been to Glastonbury but has a ticket to the festival for 2015. “I fought the temptation to scream and instead opted to hurl my iPhone across the room,” he said. “Two years ago we had The Rolling Stones playing the Saturday night and this year we get Kanye West? It’s an outrage!”
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A blog called “White People Angry About Kanye” has been set up on Tumblr to counteract the petition and mock criticism of Kanye. One of the bestselling artists of all-time, he has sold over 21 million albums and 66 million downloads worldwide.
Kanye follows fellow rapper Jay Z who sparked controversy by becoming the first hip-hop act to headline Glastonbury in 2008, a booking that Oasis’ Noel Gallagher branded “wrong”. Jay Z hit back by opening his performance with a cover of “Wonderwall”.
Kanye is one of a handful of acts confirmed for this year’s Glastonbury, along with Foo Fighters, Lionel Richie and the Dalai Lama. The rest of the line-up is expected to be revealed in April before the festival takes place from 24 to 28 June.
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