Glastonbury has announced that the rock group Killdren will no longer be performing at this year’s festival, following a controversy over their song Kill Tory Scum.
Over the weekend, Glastonbury came under fire for having booked Killdren to play on the event’s Shangri-La stage, despite one of their song’s lyrics saying: “Even if it’s your dad or your mum, kill Tory scum, kill Tory scum/murder them all to the beat of a drum, kill Tory scum, kill Tory scum.”
Although the band have referred to the track as “satirical discourse”, the chief executive of the Jo Cox Foundation has been heavily critical of the two-person group, with Glastonbury announcing that they have chosen to remove them from the bill.
Shangri-La said in a statement: “The band Killdren were booked independently from Glastonbury Festival as just one of hundreds of live acts due to appear on our field’s stages this year.
“We are incredibly saddened that the attention this booking has received has caused such upset and negativity towards such a peaceful festival we are so proud to be a part of.
“We in no way condone violence and will not allow this matter to overshadow the incredibly inclusive spirit of Glastonbury. As a result we have taken the decision to withdraw the booking.”
Killdren has also posted their own statement in a string of tweets…
Another punk rock band due to appear at Glastonbury, Fat White Family, has received similar attention over previous calls from them to “execute” Conservative voters in 2015, having tweeted they felt Tories should be “hanged” a year earlier.
At the time of writing, the festival is yet to comment on whether their scheduled performance will go head.
This year’s Glastonbury festival takes place at the end of this month, with The Killers, Stormzy and The Cure confirmed as its headliners.