Who is Bob Vylan and where do they hail from? Real names and all we know about the duo in wake of Glastonbury controversy 

Punk duo Bob Vylan sparked controversy online after their performance at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival on Saturday. The frontman and guitarist, Bobby Vylan, identified as Pascal Robinson-Foster, and drummer Bobbie Vylan, formed their musical partnership in Ipswich, England, in 2017.

During their Glastonbury set, the duo chanted, "death, death, to the IDF", referring to the Israel Defense Forces, "free, free, Palestine", and "from the river to the sea, Palestine must be, will be, inshallah, will be free". They encouraged the audience to join the chant as well, with several attendees waving the Palestinian national flag.

According to Variety, Avon and Somerset Police Department, which is currently investigating the matter, said on Saturday:

"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offenses may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation."

Bob Vylan's act earned them strong criticism from several people, including the Glastonbury festival organizers and the BBC. Keir Starmer, the UK Prime Minister, also called the duo's chants "appalling hate speech".

BBC, responsible for broadcasting the band's Saturday performance, condemned their "deeply offensive" chants as well and said Bob Vylan's performance will not be available on iPlayer.

Glastonbury Festival organizers shared their reaction through an Instagram statement on Sunday. They asserted that the festival did not resonate with all the performing artists' personal views. Organizers said they were "appalled" by the English punk duo's statements during their set, adding:

"Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the Festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence."

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A brief look into Bob Vylan and their music amid their response to the Glastonbury controversy

Per RTE, the English musical duo works with a mix of genres, including punk, grime, and hard rock. Per the Daily Mail, the vocalist, who goes by the moniker Bobby Vylan, and was identified as Pascal Robinson-Foster, is a 31-year-old Ipswich-born musician. Several record labels reportedly turned him down due to his alleged extremism.

Since their formation in 2017, Bobby and Bobbie Vylan have released four albums so far — Humble As The Sun (2024), The Price Of Life (2021), a deluxe version of the album in 2022, We Live Here (2021), and Dread (2019). The UK rap music duo initially debuted with an EP titled Vylan in 2017.

Bob Vylan have over 230k monthly listeners on Spotify, and more than 27K subscribers on YouTube, where they have shared some of the music videos. The band addresses societal issues, including right-wing politics, racism, and others, in their songs.

In 2022, Bob Vylan took home a MOBO Award for the Best Alternative Music category, introduced at the show for the first time that year. Drummer Bobbie said as in his acceptance speech:

"I've been watching MOBOs my whole life, and, and, I've always been into alternative music, and never had the representation here. So, to get the first award ever handed out...with legends and Skunk Anansie in the room, which is beyond me that we could have got this."

Frontman Bobby revealed they recorded, produced, and mixed their music from their bedroom, and bragged about their music making it to the Official UK Top 20 Albums chart.

After the Glastonbury controversy, Bobby Vylan took to Instagram to address the matter. He said he was flooded with both positive and negative messages on social media. Bobby then referenced his daughter voicing her opinion on her school dinners, to convey:

"Teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place."

Bobby added:

"It is incredibly important that we encourage and inspire future generations to pick up the torch that was passed to us. Let us display to them loudly and visibly the right thing to do when we want and need change."

The Bob Vylan frontman encouraged everyone to campaign for what they deem right, both online and on the streets, and to voice their thoughts on every public platform they have access to.