Neil Young (CA)

About

Also known as: Bernard Shakey, N. Young, Neil Percival Young, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Neil Young & Friends, Neil Young & the Shocking Pinks, Niel Young

Few artists have shapeshifted as convincingly as Neil Young, who has spent decades moving between raw electric noise and intimate acoustic folk without ever losing his footing. His catalog with Crazy Horse is the stuff of legend, from the sprawling guitar workouts on Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere to the ferocious Rust Never Sleeps, and that distorted, unpredictable guitar sound is what earned him the nickname Godfather of Grunge. His soprano tenor and deeply personal lyrics have been constants across wildly different records, whether the country tinged warmth of Harvest or the searing On the Beach. He has never been content to stay in one lane. Beyond his solo work and Crazy Horse, he recorded Déjà Vu with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, made Mirror Ball with Pearl Jam in 1995, and has more recently worked with Promise of the Real. He also directs films under the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, with credits ranging from the 1973 Journey Through the Past to Harvest Time in 2022. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him twice, once as a solo artist and once as a member of Buffalo Springfield.