50,000 Sign Petition to Prevent Kanye West from Headlining Glastonbury Festival

More than 50,000 people have signed a petition urging the Glastonbury music festival to cancel Kanye West’s headlining slot.

West is set to perform at the UK’s premiere music festival on Saturday night, June 27. However, Glastonbury attendee Neil Lonsdale doesn’t believe that the outspoken rapper belongs there.

On Monday, Lonsdale filed a Change.org petition called, “Cancel Kanye West’s headline slot and get a rock band,” which had quickly garnered more than 50,000 signatures by Thursday morning.

“Kanye West is an insult to music fans all over the world,” Lonsdale wrote. “We spend hundreds of pounds to attend glasto, and by doing so, expect a certain level of entertainment. Kanye has been very outspoken on his views on music…he should listen to his own advice and pass his headline slot on to someone deserving!”

Lonsdale explained his petition in an interview with the BBC, saying he would have preferred that a rock band headline the traditionally rock and alternative-heavy festival.

“I think a lot of people want to go to a festival, stand in a field, all come together, have a sing have a dance. And I think that Kanye and his music might not be that,” Lonsdale told the outlet, offering some suggestions of his own. “It would be great to see Prince do a set. Oasis, or Blur, David Bowie would be a dream. A good solid performance, maybe Green Day. I’ve seen those a few times and they really know how to put on a show.”

Glastonbury has been hit with criticism over its choice of headliner before; in 2008, Oasis’ Noel Gallagher knocked the festival’s decision to host Jay-Z, the first time a hip-hop artist had headlined the event.

“Glastonbury has the tradition of guitar music… I’m not having hip-hop at Glastonbury,” Gallagher said at the time, according to the Independent.

Disappointed attendees will still be able to get their rock fix when the Foo Fighters play the main stage on Friday night. Lionel Richie headlines Sunday night, while the rest of the festival’s artists will be announced sometime this spring. Tickets have apparently already sold out.