Neil Young

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Born:
November 12, 1945, he's 66 and Canadian.
Birthname:
Neil Percival Young.
Snapshot:
An Artist with 79 releases, a member of 3 groups, and credited 18 times on others' music. 15 collaborations and 2 musical relatives.

Biography

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With an extensive back-catalogue of critically acclaimed albums (both as a solo artist and as a key band member) and tens of millions of records sold, Neil Young is a singer-songwriter of extraordinary influence over five decades in music.

Born in Toronto in 1945, Young was touring at the age of 20, before joining the Mynah Birds and signing to Motown. But the Mynah Birds soon disbanded when singer Rick James - who would go on to a successful funk career in the 70s and 80s - was arrested for deserting the army. Young and bassist Bruce Palmer then formed Buffalo Springfield with Steven Stills, Dewey Martin and Richie Furay. A short-lived folk-rock band with country leanings, Buffalo Springfield released a self-titled debut (1966), Again (1967) and Last Time Around (1968). The first two received great critical acclaim, but the latter was made as the band was arguing and on the verge of splitting up, so was not so successful.

Young then started a solo career, with an eponymous debut, followed by his first solo classic - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969). He then joined up with Stephen Stills again, who had released a new album with Graham Nash and David Crosby as Crosby, Stills & Nash. Now rechristened Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, their 1970 album Déjà Vu was another entry into what is now termed the 'classic rock' canon. Aided by Stills and Nils Lofgren, Young released arguably his solo masterpiece the same year - After The Gold Rush. With a new backing band, 1972 saw the release of Young's most commercially successful album - the country-tinged Harvest, boosted by a No.1 single in Heart of Gold.

Following the drug overdose death of a friend, for which Young blamed himself, he went into a difficult period and released three raw and emotional albums - known as the 'ditch trilogy'. Particularly affecting were Tonight's The Night (recorded in '73, released in '75), and On The Beach (1974), though none sold well at the time. He then rejoined original backing band Crazy Horse for the harder-rocking Zuma (1975), and in 1979 released the half-acoustic, half-electric live album Rust Never Sleeps to widespread praise.

Through the 80s Young experimented with new instruments and technology, often to strange and unsatisfactory effect. Finally, Freedom in 1989 was a success, aided by "Rockin' In The Free World" which was adopted as an anthem to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. Ragged Glory in 1990, and Weld, in 1991, returned to the Zuma-style hard-rock at the height of grunge - Weld was a three-disc live set featuring 35-minutes of Sonic Youth-inspired guitar noise. Harvest Moon, in 1992, saw a return to country-rock as a sequel to Harvest, after a 20 year gap. Neil Young continues to write and record, including the controversial political album Living With War in 2006, which was nominated for three Grammys.

Music

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Genres

Classic Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Rock, Album-Oriented Rock (AOR), Country, Folk, Pop, Rock and Roll. Vote on Genres

Discography

115 releases – 79 under his own name, 21 in other groups and 18 credits on others' music Edit
1
Collaborations, Groups and Family
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Neil Young

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In the News

( 5 stories between 13th May 2008 and 28th March 2011 )

Canadian Music’s 40th Annual Juno Awards

Mar, 28 2011

If the Grammys and Canada’s Juno Awards are any indication, Arcade Fire has officially taken over North America. The band took home four prizes – Best Group, Best Album and Alternative Album, and Best Songwriter - at Sunday night’s ceremony in Toronto, but they didn’t sweep the event. You may recall they won Album of the Year at last month’s Grammy Awards for The Suburbs. Teen-phenomenon Justin Bieber took home his first-ever trophies from his native Canada’s awards, predictably winning the Fan Choice Juno Award and Best Pop Album for My World 2.0. Despite leading the field with six nominations and hosting the event, Drake was shut out. Neil Young picked up the Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for Le Noise. Making his first appearance at the Junos in 29 years, Young also received a humanitarian award for his work with Farm Aid as well as his work with the Bridge School, which helps children with speech and physical impairments. Country to pop crossover artist Shania Twain was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame by Bryan Adams and honored for her contributions to Canadian Music. She is the second best selling artist in Canada behind Celine Dion. -Court

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Neil Young Warehouse Fire Sparked By Hybrid Car

Nov, 17 2010

The cause of a fire which broke out at a warehouse owned by music legend Neil Young has been identified as a fault pertaining to the charging system of a fuel-efficient hybrid car he has been working on. Nobody was hurt in the blaze, which took place on November 9, but damage to instruments and memorabilia belonging to the artist is estimated at $850,000. The hybrid car, dubbed the LincVolt, is a 1959 Lincoln Continental which has been converted to run on batteries and a bio-diesel-fueled generator in order to promote fuel efficiency. Young, in a statement to lincvolt.com, the website which is chronicling the development of the project, said that the accident stemmed from human error. “The car was plugged in to charge and left unattended. The wall charging system was not completely tested and had never been left unattended. A mistake was made. It was not the fault of the car.” He intends to begin rebuilding the LincVolt as soon as possible, but the memorabilia from his illustrious career can never be recovered.

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Neil Young: The Comic

Jun, 18 2010

Sometimes books inspire albums, and sometimes albums inspire books, but this could be a first: Neil Young's Greendale (2003) has been adapted into a graphic novel, published this week by Vertigo. Writer Joshua Dysart recruited comic artist Cliff Chiang to create the drawn version of Greendale, set in the fictional town of Greendale, California, where the Green family -- descendents of the town's founder -- have to deal with modern issues such as environmentalism and the effects of mass media. Despite being seven years old, "It's still pretty current," Young told the New York Times. The comic version has been in development for over three years, with Dysart meeting Young regularly for discussions. "There are all kinds of things that we talked about doing that aren’t in this book, that have to do with her next episode and her story," Young said. "These characters have been designed to last a long time.” Does that suggest Greendale might become the first album to be adapted into two graphic novels?

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Trivia

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  • Scott Young, Neil's Father, was a significant hockey journalist who was rewarded for his efforts with enshrinement in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. To this day Neil remains a hockey fan and is often spotted at the home games for his local team, the San Jose Sharks.

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