Isle of Wight: Jess Glynne’s ‘lifetime ban’ from festival lifted after less than a year

‘She will never be booked to play the Isle of Wight again,’ festival organiser said in 2019

Jess Glynne will perform at next summer’s Isle of Wight Festival, despite organisers banning her from the event for life in 2019.

The pop star was previously given the lifetime ban after pulling out of her 2019 headline set minutes before she was due to appear on stage. Confirmation of her absence, which occurred after her band had already taken to the stage, reportedly left fans in tears.

Festival organiser John Giddings told The Mirror that he was appalled by Glynne’s “shocking behaviour” and that he was taking measures to avoid the incident being repeated in the future.

“She will never be booked to play the Isle of Wight again,” Giddings said. “It shows no regards for people that bought a ticket. It’s so sad that an artist would do that to their fans. She’s let them down.”

A representative for Glynne blamed “physical exhaustion” for her inability to perform, writing in a statement: “Jess had every intention of performing today at Isle of Wight. However, as the show got closer it became apparent that she was physically exhausted after a very intense last few weeks of touring.”

The statement continued: “As a result we took the decision to cancel the show. Jess is extremely frustrated and apologises to all her fans but ultimately her health must come first.”

Reports at the time, however, alleged that Glynne was seen partying with Spice Girl Mel B and a group of friends at 5am on the morning she was due to play the festival. Glynne later confirmed she had been partying, but that she pulled out of the festival because she had sustained haemorrhage to her vocal chords after “overdoing everything”.

Despite the ban, Glynne will take to the Isle of Wight stage alongside Lewis Capaldi and Lionel Richie on the first day of next year’s festival.

Carly Rae Jepsen, Duran Duran, Sam Fender and Kaiser Chiefs are also scheduled to play the three-day event, which will take place 17-20 June, 2021.