Why Neil Young hates “bullshit” farewell tours
Neil Young needs no real introduction. His reputation precedes him, as he’s one of the finest musicians of his generation and one of the most influential ever to do it. Hailed affectionately as ‘The Godfather of Grunge’, without him, we’d be without many of our subsequent favourite artists, a testament to the quality and gravitas of his output.
Young was much ahead of his time, and it was for this reason that some of his best moments, including 1969’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and 1975’s Zuma, remain as scintillating as when first released, with him constantly earning new fans, despite the fact that his music is not on Spotify anymore. Class is class, and people will seek it out even when not readily available as it once was.
As well as being a genius songwriter, Young is one of the true guitar-playing greats. The godfather of grunge and alternative music as a whole, his impact has been so great that Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Radiohead and even Oasis have discussed his defining influence at many points across their respective careers.
Going one step further, if you were to delete his work, you could also say goodbye to the likes of The Cure and Arctic Monkeys. Noisy but emotional, his guitar style laid down many foundations for alt-rock playing, with his hallmarks very much alive today in many different sub-genres from dream pop to post-rock.
Alongside being a generational talent, Young is also a colourful character, an iconoclast whose never been afraid of voicing his opinions and championing different causes. From his recent battle with Spotify to starting Farm Aid alongside Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp, many tales exist of Young wading into discussions.
Back in 2018, he delivered one of his most definitive statements. He criticised artists who go on farewell tours, labelling them as “bullshit”. The discussion came from a host of legends such as Elton John, Ozzy Osbourne and Paul Simon, all committing to final runs.
When quizzed on his thoughts on a farewell tour, Young told Rolling Stone: “I’m going out with Cher. Cher and I are doing a retirement tour. When I retire, people will know, because I’ll be dead.”
“They’ll know, ‘He’s not coming back! He retired.’ But I’m not gonna say, ‘I’m not coming back.’ What kind of bullshit is that? I could go out and play if I felt like it, but I don’t feel like it. I’ve got a great band. I’ve got two great bands – I’ve got Promise of the Real and Crazy Horse. They’re both great bands and they’re different. But they both can play a lot of shit”, he continued.
