Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis has admitted to feeling "embarrassed" at making it into Time magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people.

Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis at Worthy Farm, Pilton

The farmer turned music festival guru is among a handful of high profile Britons to be voted onto the prestigious list.

He joins global luminaries like Barack Obama, Tiger Woods and George Clooney.

"For a dairy farmer from Somerset, it's not bad is it?" Eavis joked as he spoke to Sky News Online.

"I can't believe it and I don't quite know how it happened. President Obama is the top man at the moment and, to be honest, I'm embarrassed to be mentioned in the same company as him.

"I don't know how to define influence. In music spheres, I would just point out that Neil Diamond last year and within a few weeks of the festival he sold 900,000 albums. That's a lot of influence."

This year's list is made up of 32 women and 71 men, drawn from a total of 23 countries.

It is divided into five sub-sections: Leaders and Revolutionaries, Builders and Titans, Artists and Entertainers, Scientists and Thinkers and Heroes and Icons.

Sky News' entertainment editor Jon Bennett has known Eavis for years and is quick to pay tribute to his latest achievement. 

"I'm not surprised that Michael says he's flattered but baffled by the award, that's really typical of him," he said.

I can't believe it and I don't quite know how it happened. President Obama is the top man at the moment and, to be honest, I'm embarrassed to be mentioned in the same company as him.

Michael Eavis, Glastonbury founder, "I first met him in 1995 and, despite the way that the festival has grown to be the biggest in the world, he's always been determined not to lose his roots or to seem affected by it all. Time magazine are right to honour him as he has been a hugely influential figure on the music scene."

Time editor Richard Stengel said the list was not about the smartest or powerful people in the world.

"It is a thoughtful and sprightly survey of the most influential individuals in the world. Influence, like those other categories is subjective, but you try to measure it in the effect people have on the world," he said.

Other Britons to make the list include Gordon Brown, Mayor of London Boris Johnson, designer Stella McCartney and actress Kate Winslet.

While Gordon Brown makes the list, Conservative leader David Cameron does not.

Former US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin also makes the top 100, but her running mate John McCain is a notable absentee.

Talkshow host Oprah Winfrey makes the list yet again, as does US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, boxer Manny Pacquiao and tennis star Rafael Nadal.

Watch a 2008 interview with BBC Radio 1's Tim Westwood and Michael Eavis below: