The Kaiser Chiefs’ Glastonbury 2025 performance was a highlight for many at Worthy Farm, but ‘something terrible happened’.
As the Ruby hitmakers opened the Pyramid Stage for day two of the festival (Saturday, June 27), complaints flooded social media.
It turned out the BBC had no plans to air the set, which marked the iconic band’s 20th anniversary.
Lead singer Ricky Wilson saw the outcry but admitted it doesn’t feel like a Kaiser Chiefs show when everything is going right.
‘We’re most comfortable when things are going wrong, even like when we were the Glastonbury and it was, like, my favourite show ever,’ the 47-year-old musician shared.
Speaking on Radio X with Dan O’Connell, Ricky continued: ‘Best day. I loved it. The crowd turned up. There was like 100,000 people in the field. Amazing.
‘Then they said it wasn’t on iPlayer. And I was like, “Well, that’s really rubbish.”
‘I’m glad something terrible happened, because it wouldn’t be the Kaiser Chiefs if it all went to plan.’
He added: ‘The thing is, bands that everything goes really well, then just to suddenly disappear. But bands that go up and down have a need to fight back all the time.
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‘It’s weird, because we’re very happy being the underdogs.’
Those underdogs were marking two decades since the release of their debut album, Employment, which was the fourth best-selling album that year.
The record produced iconic hits like Oh My God, I Predict a Riot, and Everyday I Love You Less and Less.
It was shortlisted — as Ricky said it ‘came second’ — for the Mercury Prize that year but the singer revealed he couldn’t appreciate the success at the time.
‘It was weird,’ he shared. ‘We knew it was going really well; you can’t really compute it when you’re so tired.
‘And I think any new band who aren’t feeling like on the verge of death with tiredness, you’re not doing it properly!’
While the set did appear on iPlayer later, fans were furious it wasn’t aired live and were particularly vocal about it on X at the time.
Ninety_88 questioned: ‘How can you put Kaiser Chiefs on to open on a Saturday and not televise it?’
‘BBC iPlayer stating they are live, when in actual fact it’s 2 presenters talking and showing the acts from last night, when we have all tuned in to watch Kaiser Chiefs who are actually live on stage now! What a let down,’ added melcastle1875.
The I Predict A Riot hitmakers even addressed the drama on their Instagram, writing: ‘Apologies to everyone who attempted to tune in yesterday, we appreciate you wanting to join the party from home alongside the almost one hundred thousand of you who filled the field! Such a lovely crowd!’
Kaiser Chiefs’ Glastonbury set has since been removed from iPlayer, along with other 2025 sets.
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