Artist · EveryDisc catalogue

Neil Young

Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945, Toronto) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and director of several films. He began his musical career in the 1960s, founded the band Buffalo Springfield, and was a member of the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. He has released over thirty studio albums, some of them with the rock band Crazy Horse. Characteristic features of Young's music are his peculiar guitar-playing style and the performer's high tenor. Neil experimented in the skiffle, blues, and rockabilly genres, but his work in the folk/country-rock genre ("Heart of Gold," "Old Man") and electronic hard rock ("Rockin’ in the Free World") is most famous. Young's music had a significant influence on bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, for which the performer received the nickname "godfather of grunge." Under the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, he filmed the concert films "Rust Never Sleeps," "Greendale," "CSNY/Déjà Vu," and others. Young's atmospheric music for Jim Jarmusch's film "Dead Man" is widely known. The musician is a committed environmentalist and philanthropist. In 1985, together with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp, he founded the Farm Aid charity festival, and a year later the Bridge School Benefit (to help children with disabilities), which are held annually to this day. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: in 1995 as a solo performer and in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield.