Young briefly attended Chisolm Elementary School in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.
Gallery of Neil Young
155 Kingsway, Winnipeg, MB R3M 0G3, Canada
Young attended Kelvin High School in Winnipeg.
College/University
Career
Gallery of Neil Young
1966
Los Angeles, California, United States
Young playing the Whiskey A Go-Go in Los Angeles in October 1966.
Gallery of Neil Young
1967
Los Angeles, California, United States
Neil Young relaxes on a couch, circa 1967 in Los Angeles.
Gallery of Neil Young
1967
Malibu, California, United States
Buffalo Springfield take the top off their Corvette on a drive in Malibu, California, on October 30th, 1967.
Gallery of Neil Young
1976
Falkoner Teatret, Copenhagen, Denmark
Crazy Horse communing at the Falkoner Teatret in Copenhagen in March 1976.
Gallery of Neil Young
1977
Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, California, United States
Neil Young performs with David Crosby and Graham Nash as their guest at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium in Santa Cruz, California on August 12th, 1977.
Gallery of Neil Young
1990
Bay Area Music Awards, San Francisco, California, United States
Neil Young performing at the Bay Area Music Awards in San Francisco on March 17th, 1990.
Gallery of Neil Young
1991
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, United States
Neil Young performs as part of the Laughter, Love, and Music Tribute to Bill Graham at the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on November 3rd, 1991.
Gallery of Neil Young
1993
Neil Young and Eddie Vedder hang out after the MTV Video Music Awards in 1993.
Gallery of Neil Young
2003
Columbus, Ohio, United States
Neil Young and Willie Nelson perform together in 2003 at Farm Aid in Columbus, Ohio.
Gallery of Neil Young
2010
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, California, United States
Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Eddie Vedder and Neil Young perform the finale during the 24th annual Bridge School Benefit at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California on October 23rd, 2010.
Gallery of Neil Young
2011
Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Canada
Three time award winner Neil Young in the press room at the 2011 Juno Awards at Air Canada Centre on March 27, 2011 in Toronto, Canada.
Gallery of Neil Young
2011
Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, United States
Canadian singer songwriter Neil Young accepts his award for Best Rock Song for "Angry World" at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California February 13, 2011.
Gallery of Neil Young
2011
Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Canada, United States
Neil Young and Eddie Vedder perform at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada on September 11th, 2011.
Gallery of Neil Young
2013
Los Angeles, California, United States
Bonnie Raitt and Neil Young attend MusiCares Person of the Year Honoring Bruce Springsteen in Los Angeles, California on February 8th, 2013.
Neil Young performs as part of the 27th Annual Bridge School Benefit at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California on October 26th, 2013.
Achievements
Young's Star on Canada's Walk of Fame
Membership
Awards
Grammy Awards
2011
Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, United States
Canadian singer songwriter Neil Young accepts his award for Best Rock Song for "Angry World" at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California February 13, 2011.
Juno Awards
2011
Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Canada
Three time award winner Neil Young in the press room at the 2011 Juno Awards at Air Canada Centre on March 27, 2011 in Toronto, Canada.
Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, California, United States
Neil Young performs with David Crosby and Graham Nash as their guest at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium in Santa Cruz, California on August 12th, 1977.
Neil Young performs as part of the Laughter, Love, and Music Tribute to Bill Graham at the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on November 3rd, 1991.
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, California, United States
Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Eddie Vedder and Neil Young perform the finale during the 24th annual Bridge School Benefit at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California on October 23rd, 2010.
Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, United States
Canadian singer songwriter Neil Young accepts his award for Best Rock Song for "Angry World" at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California February 13, 2011.
Neil Percival Young is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. He earned fame both as a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSN&Y) and as a solo artist, writing and recording such timeless songs as "Old Man," "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)," "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Heart of Gold" - a No. 1 hit.
Background
Neil Young was born on November 12, 1945, in Toronto, Ontario. His father, Scott Alexander Young (1918–2005), was a journalist and sportswriter who also wrote fiction. His mother, Edna Blow Ragland "Rassy" Young (1918–1990) was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Although Canadian, his mother had American and French ancestry. Young's parents married in 1940 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and their first son, Robert "Bob" Young, was born in 1942. Shortly after Young's birth in 1945, his family moved to rural Omemee, Ontario, which Young later described fondly as a "sleepy little place."
Education
Young briefly attended Chisolm Elementary School in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. In 1952, upon returning to Canada, Young moved from Omemee to Winnipeg for a year, before relocating to Toronto and Pickering.
During the mid-1950s, Young listened to rock'n'roll, rockabilly, doo-wop, R&B, country, and western pop. He idolized Elvis Presley and later referred to him in a number of his songs. Other early musical influences included Link Wray, Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, The Ventures, Cliff Richard and the Shadows, Chuck Berry, Hank Marvin, Little Richard, Fats Domino, The Chantels, The Monotones, Ronnie Self, the Fleetwoods, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Gogi Grant. Young first began to play music himself on a plastic ukulele, before, as he would later relate, going on to "a better ukulele to a banjo ukulele to a baritone ukulele – everything but a guitar."
While attending Kelvin High School in Winnipeg, he played in several instrumental rock bands, eventually dropping out of school in favour of a musical career.
While making his rounds on the Canadian folk circuit, Young began to rub elbows with other up-and-coming Canadian musicians, including fellow folk singer Joni Mitchell and rock band the Guess Who. He also met Stephen Stills during this time and briefly joined a band called the Mynah Birds, which included future funk star Rick James on bass. The group managed to win a contract with the legendary Motown label in 1966, but disbanded before they could finish their album. Setting out in search of new frontiers, Young and his friend Bruce Palmer packed their possessions into Young’s black Pontiac hearse and made the long drive to Los Angeles, California.
In Los Angeles, Young ran into Stephen Stills, and soon thereafter, Young, Stills, Palmer, Richie Furay and Dewey Martin came together to form the band Buffalo Springfield. They released their debut, self-titled album in December 1966, and it managed to crack the charts. The single “For What It’s Worth” even became a Top 10 hit. The band soon attracted a large following and was acclaimed for its experimental and skilled instrumental pieces, inventive songwriting and harmony-focused vocal composition. The music-listening public got its first introduction to Young’s talents on such tracks as “Broken Arrow” and “I Am a Child.” However, by 1968, strain in Buffalo Springfield led to Young striking out once more on his own.
Young signed with Reprise Records in 1969 and released his self-titled debut to mixed reviews, though it hinted at the originality and willingness to experiment that would define his body of work. But Young followed up just a few months later with Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, on which drummer Ralph Molina, bass player Billy Talbot and guitarist Dan Whitten, collectively known as Crazy Horse, backed him up. With their raw sound serving as the counterpoint to Young’s distinctively melancholy and untrained voice on such standout tracks as “Cinnamon Girl” and “Down by the River,” the album climbed up the charts to No. 34, and eventually went gold.
Meanwhile, Young had reconnected with Stephen Stills, who had formed a new group with David Crosby of the Byrds and Graham Nash of the Hollies. Young joined the trio, which was renamed Crosby, Still, Nash & Young and they began to perform and record, playing the legendary Woodstock Festival in August 1969. The band’s subsequent tour and album release, 1970’s Déjà Vu, catapulted them to fame - so much so that they were at times referred to as the “American Beatles.” However, Young’s relationship with his bandmates quickly became contentious, and he left the group to focus more exclusively on his solo work.
The move quickly paid off, with his 1970 album After the Gold Rush breaking into the Top 10 and featuring such Neil Young classics as “Only Love Can Break Your Heart,” “Tell Me Why” and “Southern Man.” (The latter, a condemnation of racism that angered many Southerners, would inspire Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama,” in which Neil Young is called out specifically.) Young outdid himself the next year with Harvest, a hallmark work that contains the songs “The Needle and the Damage Done,” “Old Man” (inspired by the aging caretaker of the ranch he had recently purchased in the Santa Cruz mountains) and “Heart of Gold,” which is Young’s only No. 1 hit to date.
But just as he reached this early peak, Young was faced with one of the more difficult periods in his life. At the end of 1972, Young and his girlfriend, Academy Award–winning actress Carrie Snodgress, had a son, Zeke, who was born with cerebral palsy, and Snodgress had to set aside her acting career to care for him. A few months later, shortly after being fired by Young before their upcoming tour, Crazy Horse guitarist Dan Whitten died of an drug overdose. These events were compounded by a string of relatively unsuccessful projects, including the 1972 film Journey Through the Past, the live album Time Fades Away and 1974’s On the Beach.
The second half of the decade would prove to be a more positive one for Young, who teamed up once more with Stephen Stills to record Long May You Run, which reached No. 26 on the charts and went gold. In 1977, he released the more country flavored Stars ’n Bars as well as the triple-LP compilation Decade, which featured a handpicked selection of his work up to that point. Things got even better the next year, when Comes a Time broke into the Top 10, he married Pegi Morton (who was waitress at a restaurant near his ranch and would inspire many of Young’s songs in the future, most notably, “Unknown Legend”) and embarked on a tour with Crazy Horse called “Rust Never Sleeps,” during which they showcased songs from an upcoming album. Released in 1979, Rust Never Sleeps echoed the structure of the concerts, alternating between quiet, acoustic tracks and aggressive electric numbers. Among its highlights is one of Neil Young’s best-known tracks, the anthem “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black).” A double LP recording from the tour, Live Rust, was released later that year, reaching No. 15 on the charts.
Young began the 1980s by indulging his experimental urges, not always to the best results. His first album of the new decade, Hawks & Doves, was more or less a collection of acoustic and country-flavored songs recorded several years earlier, and their at times politically right-leaning sentiments alienated some of his audience. He followed with an abrupt about-face in 1981, releasing the hard-edged Re-ac-tor, before mixing it up even more with Trans, incorporating synthesizers and vocoders into his songs and further confusing fans and critics and underwhelming his new label, Geffen.
Unwilling to sacrifice his independence and artistic integrity to please his label, he eventually reached a deal with them in which he would take a pay cut for his next few albums. This led to the heavily country Old Ways (1985), featuring guest appearances by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings; the New Wave–tinged Landing on Water (1986); and the 1987 album Life, all of which were only mildly successful but fulfilled his final obligations to Geffen.
Making his return to Reprise Records in 1988 with blues/R&B-focused This Note’s for You, the album featured a title track of the same name that took aim at commercialism in music. Though initially MTV refused to play the accompanying video in response to Young’s apparent slight, it eventually won Video of the Year at its annual awards. That same year, Young reunited with Crosby, Stills, and Nash for American Dream, which, although it charted at No. 16, was panned by critics.
However, Young’s next offering, the edgy acoustic and electric album Freedom (1989), was a return to form after a decade of musical wanderings. He also achieved his second-biggest hit with the track “Rockin’ in the Free World,” which climbed to No. 2 on the charts. Perhaps more important, it further endeared him to up-and-coming acts such as Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr. and Nirvana, several of whom contributed tracks for a tribute album released the same year titled The Bridge, whose proceeds went to the Bridge School. It also underscored Young’s influence on this new crop of musicians, eventually earning him the title the “Godfather of Grunge.”
As the premier elder statesman in this new era, Young continued to record and explore, reuniting once more with Crazy Horse to record Ragged Glory (1990) and releasing the noise-laden live album Weld (1991). The following year, he returned to his folk roots with Harvest Moon. Featuring songs such as “War of Man,” “Unknown Legend” and “Harvest Moon,” it was one of Young’s more accessible albums and was a critical and popular success, reaching No. 16 on the charts and eventually going double platinum.
Once more in the good graces of the music-listening public, Young nevertheless continued to expand into various arenas, composing the Oscar nominated song “Philadelphia” for the 1994 Jonathan Demme movie of the same name, as well as releasing Sleeps with Angels, Young’s response to the death of Kurt Cobain, who had ended his suicide note with the lyrics “it’s better to burn out than to fade away,” from Young’s “Hey Hey, My My.” The following year he was backed by Pearl Jam on his highest charting album since 1972, Mirror Ball, and was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time. (He would be inducted again two years later with the other members of Buffalo Springfield.)
Entering the next decade, Young released his 24th studio album, Silver & Gold. In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, he recorded the patriotic “Let’s Roll” and then followed with the albums Are You Passionate? and Greendale, a concept project with an accompanying film about a fictional town in California that allowed Young to explore the environmental themes about which he has remained passionate throughout his life.
However, Young’s steady output was briefly interrupted in 2005 when he suffered a near-fatal aneurysm that required brain surgery. While recovering, he finished work on the reflective, acoustic-based Prairie Wind.
So far, the 2010s have been much like any other period along Young’s path, filled with reflections on the past, an eye toward the future and a focus on the issues about which he is most passionate. His more recent musical projects include 2010’s Le Noise, the folk standards and patriotic album Americana, the 2012 double LP Psychedelic Pill, the environmentally themed Storytone and 2015’s The Monsanto Years, his 35th album and counting.
During this period, Young also published his frank autobiography, Waging Heavy Peace, and despite stating in the intro that he needed to take a break from touring, the longtime musician had already returned to the stage by the time of the book’s release. He and continues to perform on a regular basis.
Young expanded on his views during an interview with journalist Charlie Rose – for which he took some criticism. Young spoke about how his having a brain aneurysm gave him more “faith,” though in what he didn’t know–just faith in something greater than himself and humanity. He outlined his theory that all religions are essentially the same thing, but through slightly different expressions. And he reinforced his pantheistic views, expressing a reverence for nature.
Politics
Young came up through the ranks of the musical elite in the highly politicized 1960s. And many of his songs back then were anti-war, anti-establishment, and pro-peace‘n love.
Through and through, Young has proved himself to be one of the most political singer/songwriters in popular music. And the running theme is freedom, so it’s no surprise that Young calls himself a libertarian.
Views
Young is an environmentalist and outspoken advocate for the welfare of small farmers, having co-founded in 1985 the benefit concert Farm Aid. He is currently working on a documentary about electric car technology, tentatively titled LincVolt. The project involves his 1959 Lincoln Continental converted to hybrid technology as an environmentalist statement. In 1986, Young helped found The Bridge School, an educational organization for children with severe verbal and physical disabilities, and its annual supporting Bridge School Benefit concerts, together with his ex-wife Pegi Young.
Quotations:
"Keep on rockin' in the free world."
"I still remember "the mighty Cros" visiting the ranch in his van. That van was a rolling laboratory that made Jack Casady's briefcase look like chicken feed. Forget I said that! Was my mic on?"
"I don't like war. I particularly don't like the celebration of war, which I think the administration is a little bit guilty of."
"When you're young, you don't have any experience - you're charged up, but you're out of control. And if you're old and you're not charged up, then all you have is memories. But if you're charged and stimulated by what's going on around you, and you also have experience, you know what to appreciate and what to pass by."
"It's better to burn out, than to fade away."
"As I get older, I get smaller. I see other parts of the world I didn't see before. Other points of view. I see outside myself more."
"It's hard enough losing with out the confusion of knowing I tried."
"I think if you don't have some obsession in your life, you're dead."
"The thing about my music is, there really is no point."
"I don't think I'm a thorn in the industry, I'm just another part of it."
"One new feature or fresh take can change everything."
"And as an afterthought, this too must be told: Some people have taken pure bullshit and turned it into gold."
"It doesn't mean that much to me to mean that much to you."
"This old world keeps spinnin’ round; It’s a wonder tall trees ain’t layin’ down."
"There was a band playing in my head, And I felt like getting high."
"Give a hippie too much money and anything can happen."
"I love it when people yell at me about the environment and then I tell 'em I'm burning 90% cleaner than them."
"A job is never truly finished. It just reaches a stage where it can be left on its own for a while."
"I am just a dreamer, but you are just a dream."
"As soon as you start talking about mystique, you have none."
"Being a musician enables a person to bend the notes and express things that are inside you, no matter what."
"I have so many opinions about everything it just comes out during my music. It's a battle for me. I try not to be preachy. That's a real danger."
"Piracy is the new radio."
"You know, the future's a huge, gigantic place. I have no idea what's going on out there, I'm just going to walk into it and see what happens."
"Lyndon Johnson bared his scars, American.... stars'n bars."
Membership
Young is a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.
Personality
Physical Characteristics:
Neil Young has a height of 5ft 10 (177.8 cm).
Quotes from others about the person
"Young has consistently demonstrated the unbridled passion of an artist who understands that self-renewal is the only way to avoid burning out. For this reason, he has remained one of the most significant artists of the rock and roll era."
Interests
Music & Bands
Chuck Berry, Hank Marvin, Little Richard, Fats Domino, The Chantels, The Monotones, Ronnie Self, the Fleetwoods, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison , Gogi Grant
Connections
Young married his first wife, restaurant owner Susan Acevedo, in December 1968. They were together until October 1970, when she filed for divorce.
From late 1970 to 1975, Young was in a long-term relationship with actress Carrie Snodgress. The song "A Man Needs a Maid" from Harvest is inspired by him seeing her in the film Diary of a Mad Housewife. They met soon afterward and she moved in with him on his new ranch in northern California. They have a son, Zeke, who was born on September 8, 1972.
Young met future wife Pegi Young (née Morton) in 1974 when she was working as a waitress at a diner near his ranch, a story he tells in the 1992 song "Unknown Legend." They married in 1978 and have two children together, Ben and Amber. Both Ben and Zeke are diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and Amber with epilepsy.
On July 29, 2014, Young filed for divorce after 36 years of marriage. He has been in a relationship with actress/director Daryl Hannah since 2014. Young and Hannah were reported to have wed on August 25, 2018, in Atascadero, California.
2010 - The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972 - Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package;
2010 - Neil Young - MusiCares Person of the Year;
2011 - "Angry World" - Best Rock Song
2010 - The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972 - Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package;
1994 - Harvest Moon - Album of the Year;
1995 - Neil Young - Male Vocalist of the Year;
2001 - Neil Young - Best Male Artist;
2006 - "The Painter" - Jack Richardson Producer of the Year;
2007 - Living With War - Adult Alternative Album of the Year;
2011 - Le Noise - Adult Alternative Album of the Year;
2011 - Neil Young - Artist of the Year
1994 - Harvest Moon - Album of the Year;
1995 - Neil Young - Male Vocalist of the Year;
2001 - Neil Young - Best Male Artist;
2006 - "The Painter" - Jack Richardson Producer of the Year;
2007 - Living With War - Adult Alternative Album of the Year;
2011 - Le Noise - Adult Alternative Album of the Year;