The Chemical Brothers performing at Glastonbury in 2019
(Picture: Getty Images)Three days after they were announced as a last-minute addition to the Glastonbury line-up, The Chemical Brothers have been forced to pull out.
The electronic duo were billed to perform at the festival’s Arcadia stage between 11pm and 1am on Friday night, but will no longer be appearing after member Tom Rowlands tested positive for Covid.
“We were so excited to be back in the fields and to celebrate the return of the festival,” the band said in a statement posted on social media, adding: “We were hoping that more rest days would allow Tom to recover from Covid [but] this hasn’t so far been the case.
A message from @chembros: pic.twitter.com/zTM1TQp4U2
— The Chemical Brothers (@ChemBros) June 24, 2022
The band, who also had to cancel an appearance in the Irish city of Cork on Thursday evening, said they “share the disappointment and frustration at not being able to do what we do with all of you”. A show at Castle Howard in York on Sunday will still go ahead if Rowlands recovers in time, the statement added.
Bonobo and Groove Armada have already been confirmed by Arcadia as the acts set to fill in for The Chemical Brothers at Worthy Farm, playing during the same time slot.
This is the most-high profile Covid-related cancellation of the festival so far, with Glastonbury organisers navigating their first post-pandemic edition. The 200,000-capacity event was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021 due to government restrictions on large gatherings.
Rock band The Damned have also fallen victim to a postive Covid test, which forced them to cancel their appearance on the Avalon Stage. Reef, who previously drew the stage’s largest ever audience for a Sunday evening, were swiftly announced as replacements.
