Neil Young: The Musician's Life Story and Career Accomplishments

There are not too many musicians that seem to be there for almost forever like Neil Young, The Canadian singer and songwriter began his career in 1960 and has since released as much as 40 studio albums as a solo musician as well as a part of the Canadian-American rock band Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse, and as a member of the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young.

The Canadian singer was born Neil Percival Young on November 12, 1945, in Canada, Toronto, Ontario to Scott Alexander Young and Edna Blow Ragland 'Rassy' Young.

While his father was a journalist, sportswriter, and a fiction writer, his mother was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

He was brought up alongside his brother Robert 'Bob' Young. His family later went to Florida where he attended Chisolm Elementary School for a very short while. Before long, the family was back to Canada. By the time he was 12, his parent had ended their marriage and so he moved with his mother while his brother remained with his father.

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A very shy kid, he went to

Like most other greats in music, he fell in love with the arts since he was a kid. He was soon to be influenced by people like Elvis Presley whom he saw as an idol and Link Wray. When he began music, he used a plastic ukulele, and then he later got a better one. Earl Grey Junior High School where he formed the Jades, his first band. Next, he went to Kelvin High School in Winnipeg before deciding to call it quits and chase his musical career.

Together with Ken Koblun, Jeff Wuckert, and Bill Edmondson, he became a member of the band The Squires in 1963.

By 1965, he had already left the Squires and was touring Canada as a solo artist. He soon joined Mynah Birds which before its first album could be completed, was disbanded. After that, he formed Buffalo Springfield alongside Stephen Stills, Bruce Palmer, and Richie Furay in 1966, but it disbanded by 1968 with three albums to show.

After that, he began his solo career which gave birth to his first album Neil Young in 1969. He then formed Crazy Horse together with Danny Whitten, Billy Talbot, and Ralph Molina for his next album, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere in 1969. In that same year, he formed his next group Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young after teaming up with David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash.

Career Achievements

In the years that followed, Neil Young continued recording as a solo artist and with different bands such as The Bluenotes, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, and Crazy Horse. with more than 40 studio albums to his name, his most recent works are Road Rock Vol. 1 with Friends and Relatives and Earth with Promise of the Real. He has also released a number of soundtracks including Dead Man (1996) and Paradox (2018).

With millions of copies sold, he has won many awards including 3 Grammys, 7 Juno Awards, and 1 MTV Video Music Awards. In 1982, he got inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and he was inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo act in 1995 and then as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997.

Wife and Children

Young has been married three times. The first was in 1968 to Susan Acevedo whom he met only a year earlier. The two were together for two years before Acevedo who was a hotel owner divorced the musician in 1970. From that same year, Young was in a relationship with actress Carrie Snodgress whom he dated until 1975. In 1972, Snodgress gave birth to their son, Zeke.

In 1974, he met a waitress who worked close to his ranch named Margaret Mary Morton (Pegi Young). Soon afterward, they began dating before finally tying the knot in 1978. In 1978, they had their first child Ben Young followed by their daughter Amber Jean Young in 1984. While Zeke and Ben have been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Amber has epilepsy. After 36 years of being together, Young divorced Pegi Young in 2014. Also a singer, Pegi died in January 2019 following a battle with cancer. Daryl Hannah whom Young began dating in 2014 became his third wife after they got married in 2018.