Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis has revealed that Prince was close to performing at this year’s festival, which will now be headlined by Adele, Coldplay and Muse. Speaking to The Sun, Eavis said he was sad to learn of Prince’s passing last month, saying he was a ‘real star’ the festival had never had.

PrinceMichael Eavis has said Prince was ‘in talks’ to perform at this year’s Glastonbury.

“I was going to meet his agent, it was all planned but it didn’t happen,” Eavis said. “His death was so sad. That’s a real star that we never had.” Prince had previously been close to headlining the festival in 2014, before Metallica took the spot.

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Eavis later told The Guardian: “We wanted him to play, and it got to the point where his people were talking to us about him doing it, but before he confirmed he got really upset because he thought we had advertised that he was playing.”

“We hadn't, but with social media, rumours get everywhere, and one of those rumours was that Prince was coming. So he didn't want to do it in the end.” Prince will however have a presence at this year’s festival.

Earlier this month Emily Eavis confirmed that the singer will be honoured during the event, along with David Bowie who died in January. Speaking to the BBC Eavis said: “The pyramid stage is going to have a tribute to David Bowie - the Aladdin Sane lightning flash, in metal, which will be designed by Joe Rush.”

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“And we're doing Philip Glass's Heroes Symphony on the Park Stage on Saturday night, which is going to be a really intimate tribute to Bowie. We're also looking at a few Prince tributes. There's talk of late-night Prince parties and things.”