Glastonbury crisis as talks with Madonna fail over compensation to bring Material Girl’s live show to the festival

Glastonbury organizers have been left in chaos after talks with Madonna collapsed after refusing to pay the fee to bring her live show to the festival.

Bosses are now looking for a replacement for the Sunday night ‘Legends’ slot after learning her gig would be too expensive.

Sources say Madge, 65, wanted to recreate the show she is performing on her current Celebration tour, which would require paying for a number of dancers and an expensive set.

The star ‘doesn’t come cheap’ as one of the world’s best-loved divas, but Emily Eavis, who fronts music extravaganza Worth Farm, was keen to sign her up after seeing her concert earlier this year.

A Glastonbury source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘To be honest it’s been a real blow not being able to do a deal with Madonna.

Sources say Madge (pictured) wanted to recreate the show she is performing on her current Celebration tour, which would require her to pay for a number of dancers and an expensive set.

Bosses are now looking for a replacement for the Sunday night ‘legends’ slot, which is usually performed on the main Pyramid stage (pictured)

‘Emily really wanted her to play the Legend slot. After seeing Madonna’s London tour in October, she raved about it on Instagram, something she rarely does without Glastonbury in mind.

‘But everyone knows that after last year, and the criticism of the gender balance, we need big names in the line-up. Dua Lipa is a real catch. Now we need one more.

‘There is still some hope that it will come back to life, but that is quite unlikely. There are financial problems underlying this, it’s a real shame.’

One name coming up now is Bajan R’n’B sensation Rihanna, who was linked to a Glastonbury performance last year until she announced she was pregnant and off tour.

But now that she has given birth, there is hope that she will agree.

Dua Lipa and Coldplay will headline the world-famous Pyramid stage on Friday and Saturday nights respectively, but Madonna’s likely absence means organizers are now desperate for a new female replacement.

Commenting on the absence of female headliners last year, festival co-organiser Ms Eavis said: ‘I have always been very passionate about gender differences [on festival line-ups] and I think our problem really was that I had been so outspoken about it that a year of no women kind of pissed people off – or some people.”

Glastonbury bosses were criticized for this year’s festival being headlined by male acts Elton John, the Arctic Monkeys and Guns N’ Roses.

One name coming up now is Bajan R’n’B sensation Rihanna (pictured), who was linked with a Glastonbury performance last year until she announced she was pregnant and off tour

Evis had previously confirmed that a ‘really big’ female American solo artist had contacted the festival during an appearance on DJ couple Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw’s podcast.

It is understood there have been discussions about securing Madonna for several weeks, but Glastonbury has never paid large sums to bring in artists and now fears it cannot cover the costs of her tour.

Ms Eavis said: ‘As always there is a lot of speculation and excitement about who will play Glastonbury.

‘We are currently working day and night on the line-up, but it still changes every day.’