IoW boss John Giddings reveal the secret

After another year of rumour, many expected Fleetwood Mac to headline Glastonbury 2015. Alas, it was not to be - instead, they were booked as an exclusive for Isle Of Wight Festival. How did that happen? Well, the secret is now out.

Isle Of Wight Festival is set to kick off next week, with a massive bill of headliners that also includes Blur, Pharrell Williams, The Prodigy and Black Keys. It was earlier revealed that the Isle Of Wight headliners have more No.1s between them than any other festival. Now IoW boss John Giddings has revealed how he came to have such a massive line-up, topped by the 'Don't Stop' rock legends.

"Michael Eavis said, 'How did you get Fleetwood Mac?'," Giddings told Music Week. "I said, I paid them!"

Giddings continued: "Glastonbury are in a privileged position, whereby they sell out in advance. They could book my granny and still have a festival. The rest of us are still in the realms of having to book a decent line-up and make it attractive to people and want them to come."

He also added that the massive names of this year, put on extra pressure for 2016: "The trouble is as soon as you finalise a line-up and see people’s reaction when they find out it’s incredible, you start stressing about what you’re going to book the following year and whether you can top it or not."

One thing we can safely assume is that Ed Sheeran probably won't be headlining next year, after Giddings slammed him as 'boring'.

Isle Of Wight Festival 2015 takes place from 12-14 June. For tickets and information, visit here.

Meanwhile, Fleetwood Mac last week kicked off their massive UK tour. Read our review of their first show at The O2 in London here, and for tickets and information about the rest of their tour visit here.