Neil Percival Young, OC OM (born November 12, 1945) is a Grammy Award winning Canadian singer-songwriter, musician and film director. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 1995 and also as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997. Young began performing as a solo artist in Canada in 1960. He then migrated to California in 1966, as part of Buffalo Springfield and established himself as the tentative fourth member of Crosby, Stills & Nash. Due to Young's relationship with all band members diminishing to being too acrimonious for them to cooperate, he left both and forged a solo career, to success and critical acclaim. He has since become "one of the most respected and influential musicians of his generation".
Young's work is characterized by his deeply personal, often politically outspoken lyrics, distinctive guitar work, and signature tenor singing voice. Although he accompanies himself on several different instruments—including the piano and harmonica, his clawhammer acoustic guitar style and often idiosyncratic electric guitar soloing are the linchpins of a sometimes ragged, sometimes melodic sound. Although Young has experimented widely with differing music styles, including swing, jazz, rockabilly, blues, and electronic music throughout a varied career, his best known work usually falls into either of two distinct styles: acoustic folk and country rock ("Heart of Gold", "Harvest Moon" and "Old Man") and electric-charged hard rock (like "Cinnamon Girl", "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)"), in collaboration with the band Crazy Horse. In recent years, Young has adopted elements from newer styles such as industrial, alternative country, alternative rock and grunge. Young's profound influence on the latter caused some to dub him "the Godfather of Grunge". Young has been an undeniably important artist; The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website begins their article on Young stating flatly that "Neil Young is one of rock and roll’s greatest songwriters and performers". His distinct influence and inspiration within popular music derive in part from his longevity of a career spanning more than four decades.
Young has directed (or co-directed) a number of films using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, including ''Journey Through the Past'' (1973), ''Rust Never Sleeps'' (1979), ''Human Highway'' (1982), ''Greendale'' (2003), and ''CSNY Déjà Vu'' (2008). He is currently working on a documentary about electric car technology, tentatively titled ''Linc/Volt''. The project involves a 1959 Lincoln Continental converted to hybrid technology, which Young plans to drive to Washington, D.C. as an environmentalist example to lawmakers there.
Young is an outspoken advocate for environmental issues and the welfare of small farmers, having co-founded in 1985 the benefit concert Farm Aid. 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 wife Pegi. (Young's involvement stems at least partially from that his sons Ben and Zeke have cerebral palsy, and his daughter Amber Jean, like Young himself, has epilepsy).
Young currently resides on his ranch in La Honda, California. Although Young has lived in northern California since the 1970s and sings as frequently about U.S. themes and subjects as he does about his native country, he retains Canadian citizenship, which he has never wanted to relinquish. On July 14, 2006, Young was awarded the Order of Manitoba. On December 30, 2009, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
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