Neil Young celebrated his 80th birthday on Wednesday by taking a cruise around Oxnard, California, in his 1959 Lincoln Continental convertible, which boasts a rechargeable biodiesel-powered microturbine engine.
Despite the perfect weather, the Canadian rock legend kept the convertible’s top up for the drive.
Young was noticeably sporting a Jimmy Kimmel Live! cap, which he likely procured during the talk show host’s three-episode suspension in September over criticism of President Donald Trump after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Young’s show of support comes a day after Kimmel tearfully paid tribute to his childhood friend and longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III, who had died early on Monday morning at 59.
Kimmel announced that his show would go dark for the next few days in the wake of the loss.
The Heart Of Gold singer is known to vocally protest anything that is affront to his progressive values and, on October 8, he announced he was removing his music catalog from Amazon Music over the billionaire founder Jeff Bezos’ support of ‘a US government that neglects public welfare.’
Neil Young celebrated his 80th birthday on Wednesday by taking a cruise around Oxnard, Calif., in his 1959 Lincoln Continental convertible, which boasts a rechargeable biodiesel-powered microturbine engine
The Canadian rock legend sported a Jimmy Kimmel Live! cap, which he likely procured during Kimmel’s three-episode suspension in September over criticism of conservatives after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Kimmel tearfully paid tribute to his childhood friend and bandleader Cleto Escobedo III on Tuesday after his death early that morning at 59
This, two months after the two-time Grammy winner announced he was ‘no longer using Instagram’ due to Meta’s ‘unconscionable’ use of chatbots with children.
On April 17, Young’s third wife Daryl Hannah released her documentary, Neil Young: Coastal, which she filmed during his 2023 solo tour.
‘His sense of humor takes me by surprise all the time; his observations, his timing and the rye nature of it,’ the 64-year-old Blade Runner alum told Forbes at the time.
‘But I was surprised that he was nervous, I was surprised that he was so nervous before the first show. And of course, I’m always taken by surprise by what song he’s going to play because you never know.’
Hannah earned a Grammy Award nomination in 2023 for her musical contributions to her 2022 documentary BARN (A Band, a Brotherhood, a Barn) about the Big Change rocker and his backing band Crazy Horse.
On August 25, the inseparable couple celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary.
Young was still married to his second wife — The Bridge School co-founder Pegi Morton — in April 2014 when he and Hannah first led a Washington, DC, march protesting the Keystone Pipeline.
Three months later, the Let’s Roll Again rocker filed for divorce from Pegi after 36 years of marriage, which was finalized in 2016 – three years before she died from ovarian cancer.
Young was previously seen driving his updated convertible in a photo shared by his third wife, Daryl Hannah (L, pictured in 2023). On April 17, Hannah released her documentary, Neil Young: Coastal, which she filmed during his 2023 solo tour
Young is known to vocally protest anything that is affront to his progressive values. On October 8, he announced he was removing his music catalog from Amazon Music over billionaire founder Jeff Bezos’ support of ‘a US government that neglects public welfare’
This, two months after the two-time Grammy winner announced he was ‘no longer using Instagram’ due to Meta’s ‘unconscionable’ use of chatbots with children
The 64-year-old Blade Runner alum told Forbes: ‘His sense of humor takes me by surprise all the time; his observations, his timing and the rye nature of it. But I was surprised that he was nervous, I was surprised that he was so nervous before the first show’
Young was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1982 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice – as a solo artist in 1995 and as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997 (pictured September 20)
The Let’s Roll Again rocker – who still gets 10.2M monthly listeners on Spotify – has released 45 studio albums and is best known for his songs Heart of Gold, Harvest Moon, Old Man and Rockin’ in the Free World (pictured in 1973)
Morton mothered Young’s 41-year-old daughter Amber and 47-year-old son Ben, who has cerebral palsy.
The Farm Aid co-founder also fathered 53-year-old son Zeke, who also coincidentally has cerebral palsy, during his five-year relationship with the late Carrie Snodgress, which ended in 1975.
Young divorced his first ex-wife Susan Acevedo in 1970 after less than two years of marriage.
The Godfather of Grunge is next scheduled to be inducted into the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame on March 24 at the Boch Center Shubert Theatre in Boston.
The honor goes to ‘a contemporary performer whose initial impact on the genre was at least 25 years before the year of induction.’
Young was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1982 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice – as a solo artist in 1995 and as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997.
The Oscar-nominated songwriter – who still gets 10.2M monthly listeners on Spotify – has released 45 studio albums and is best known for his songs Heart of Gold, Harvest Moon, Old Man and Rockin’ in the Free World.
Young also spent over 30 years performing with the super-group Crosby Stills Nash & Young.
The Peabody Award winner has influenced countless artists including Kurt Cobain, R.E.M., Phish, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, Thom Yorke, Jewel, Dave Matthews, Maggie Rogers, Tom Morello, Johnny Marr, Sammy Hagar, Haim, Jeff Tweedy, Brittany Howard and Suki Waterhouse.
