Neil Young

He was married to Pegi Young for 36 years until he filed for divorce from her in July 2014.

He has a boy from his relationship with the actress Carrie Snodgress, Zeke, diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

He has two children with his ex-wife; a boy, Ben, who is also diagnosed with cerebral palsy and a daughter, Amber Jean, who is diagnosed with epilepsy, like him.

He was born on November 12, 1945 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to Scott Alexander Young, a sports journalist and Edna Blow Ragland “Rassy” Young, member of the ‘Daughters of the American Revolution’. He has an elder brother, Robert ‘Bob’ Young.

In his early childhood, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and in 1951 suffered from a bout of polio. But he recovered from the diseases and the family settled in north Toronto after residing at various places.

At the age of 10, he was attracted to the music genres such as rock and roll, country and western pop. He was influenced by a number of musical bands and began playing a ukulele; this was his first step towards becoming a musician.

When he was 12, his mother filed for divorce because of his father’s extra marital affairs and they got divorced in 1960. After the divorce, he went to live with his mother at Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada while his brother stayed with his father in Toronto.

In Winnipeg, he was enrolled at the Earl Grey Junior High School where he formed his first band, The Jades, with Ken Koblun, John Daniel, David Gregg, and Jim Atkin.

In mid-1960s, he left his band, The Squires, and continued to work in folk clubs where he met Joni Mitchell, musician and songwriter. At the same time, he recorded his first hit song ‘Flying on the Ground is Wrong’ with a Winnipeg band, The Guess Who.

In 1966, he joined a band led by singer Rick James, The Mynah Birds, and the band sealed a deal with the Motown label. But, when Rick was arrested and band broke up, he went to Los Angeles along with the band’s bass player, Bruce Palmer, to find work.

In Los Angeles, they met Stephen Stills and formed a band, called Buffalo Springfield along with guitarist Richie Furay and drummer Dewey Martin. They released their first album, ‘Buffalo Springfield’ in 1966, which was a commercial success. The band released two more albums before splitting-up in 1968.

In early 1969, he collaborated with a band ’Crazy Horse’ and released his famous album, ‘Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere’. He left the band after some time but recorded some of his hits with them in the later years.

In late 1969, he reunited with Stephen Stills but in a different band called CSN&Y. The band won the “Best New Artist” Grammy Award in 1969. Even though Young left the band in early 1970s, the band continued to perform with the remaining three members and reunited several times with him for recording albums.

In 1966, he was introduced to the music industry through his first successful album ‘Buffalo Springfield’, which became a huge hit with the audience. His band was praised for its innovative writing and incredible music sense.

In 1972 album, ‘Harvest’, he delivered his only No.1 song of his career to date, “Heart of Gold”, with ‘The Crazy Horse’ band.

In 1985, he co-founded the benefit concert ‘Farm Aid’ for the welfare of small farmers which is still held every year to raise money for the family of farmers in the U.S.A.

He along with his ex-wife, Pegi, founded an educational organization for serving the needs of children with severe physical and speech impairments, The Bridge School, in 1986.