Neil Young Explains Why He Canceled Crazy Horse Tour: 'My Body Told Me Not to Do It'

Mar. 15, 2025

Neil Young in Los Angeles in November 2022.Photo:Emma McIntyre/Getty

Emma McIntyre/Getty

Neil Youngis pulling back the curtain on the decision to cancel his tour with Crazy Horse.Two months after the singer-songwriter, 78, announced on his website thatthe remainder of his and the band’s Love Earth Tour was canceled, vaguely citing illness among the performers, he provided his fans with a more thorough explanation.In alivestreamwith fans that has since been posted on the singer’s subreddit, Young said that “a couple of” the tour’s performers — himself included — “really hit a wall.”“I just woke up one morning on the bus and I said, ‘I can’t do this, I gotta stop.’ And it was like, I felt sick when I thought of going on-stage,” the musician recalled. “My body was telling me, ‘You gotta stop.’ So I listened to my body.”Neil Young performing in May 2024 prior to canceling his tour with Crazy Horse.Astrida Valigorsky/GettyThe “Harvest Moon” singer said that despite the difficulties the cancellation posed, it was for the best, because he could not provide fans with the performance they deserved to see.“Then it gets into all the legal matters. ‘You got this, you got that, people bought tickets, they did this, they did that.’ I understand that, but what matters to me is the art of playing, and the music,” Young explained in the livestream. “That’s what matters. That’s what people loved. That’s what they loved to come and see.”“But if that’s not there, me going isn’t happening,” he said. “My body told me to not do it.”As for how he is currently doing? The music icon told fans he is “starting to feel like I could do it again.”“And that’s a great feeling,” Young said.Some members of the band, however, are “not all the way back,” he noted. “Crazy Horse will be back, God willing, and we’ll play more,” Young said. “But in the meantime, I have a lot of friends that I play with.”Neil Young performs with Crazy Horse.neilyoungchannel/YoutubeThe musician isslated to return to the stage this fall at New York’s Farm Aid Festival, the music festival announced on Tuesday, July 23. The festival lineup also includesWillie Nelsonand family,John MellencampandDave Matthews(with Tim Reynolds).Plus, Young teased in the new fan livestream, he will be embarking on a “pared down” theater tour with partially acoustic shows featuring members of Promise of the Real in “a couple weeks.”“They won’t be marathons,” he said of the upcoming shows. “They won’t be two hours and 10 minutes of blasting rock ‘n’ roll like it was with Crazy Horse.”Young originally announced that the Love Earth Tour was canceled in a late June blog post onhis website.

Neil Youngis pulling back the curtain on the decision to cancel his tour with Crazy Horse.

Two months after the singer-songwriter, 78, announced on his website thatthe remainder of his and the band’s Love Earth Tour was canceled, vaguely citing illness among the performers, he provided his fans with a more thorough explanation.

In alivestreamwith fans that has since been posted on the singer’s subreddit, Young said that “a couple of” the tour’s performers — himself included — “really hit a wall.”

“I just woke up one morning on the bus and I said, ‘I can’t do this, I gotta stop.’ And it was like, I felt sick when I thought of going on-stage,” the musician recalled. “My body was telling me, ‘You gotta stop.’ So I listened to my body.”

Neil Young performing in May 2024 prior to canceling his tour with Crazy Horse.Astrida Valigorsky/Getty

Astrida Valigorsky/Getty

The “Harvest Moon” singer said that despite the difficulties the cancellation posed, it was for the best, because he could not provide fans with the performance they deserved to see.

“Then it gets into all the legal matters. ‘You got this, you got that, people bought tickets, they did this, they did that.’ I understand that, but what matters to me is the art of playing, and the music,” Young explained in the livestream. “That’s what matters. That’s what people loved. That’s what they loved to come and see.”

“But if that’s not there, me going isn’t happening,” he said. “My body told me to not do it.”

As for how he is currently doing? The music icon told fans he is “starting to feel like I could do it again.”

“And that’s a great feeling,” Young said.

Some members of the band, however, are “not all the way back,” he noted. “Crazy Horse will be back, God willing, and we’ll play more,” Young said. “But in the meantime, I have a lot of friends that I play with.”

Neil Young performs with Crazy Horse.neilyoungchannel/Youtube

neilyoungchannel/Youtube

The musician isslated to return to the stage this fall at New York’s Farm Aid Festival, the music festival announced on Tuesday, July 23. The festival lineup also includesWillie Nelsonand family,John MellencampandDave Matthews(with Tim Reynolds).

Plus, Young teased in the new fan livestream, he will be embarking on a “pared down” theater tour with partially acoustic shows featuring members of Promise of the Real in “a couple weeks.”

“They won’t be marathons,” he said of the upcoming shows. “They won’t be two hours and 10 minutes of blasting rock ‘n’ roll like it was with Crazy Horse.”

Young originally announced that the Love Earth Tour was canceled in a late June blog post onhis website.

source: people.com