Neil Young and Crazy Horse cancel tour due to illness

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Neil Young and Crazy Horse are scraping their first tour in over a decade after several band members have battled lingering illnesses.

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On Wednesday night, Young and his fellow musicians announced their upcoming North American shows, including a return stop to Toronto’s Budweiser Stage on July 8, have all been cancelled.

“When a couple of us got sick after Detroit’s Pine Knob, we had to stop. We are still not fully recovered, so sadly our great tour will have a big unplanned break,” a statement published on Young’s official website reads. “We will try to play some of the dates we miss as time passes when we are ready to rock again! We know many of you made travel plans and we apologize for the inconvenience.” 

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The message went on to thank fans for their “understanding and patience.”

“Health is # 1. We want to stay and do more shows and more albums for you…. and for us. With love and thanks to all of you from Crazy Horse….. Neil, Micah, Ralph and Billy.”

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In addition to the scrubbed Toronto stop, several other planned Canadian shows have been impacted, including a July 11th headline slot at Ottawa Bluesfest. On Facebook, organizers said punk rock band The Offspring will take Young’s place on the bill that also features the Cancer Bats and Silverstein.

In 2022, Young, 78, swore off touring until he could find a way to do so that was environmentally friendly.

“When I look at the compromise that I would have to make to do that, the things that I don’t believe in, that I’d have to endorse, it doesn’t turn me on,” Young told Q’s Tom Power. “I can deal with the power for the venue, I can make it clean. I can make the P.A. clean, the lights clean, the electricity in the building clean. I can clean up all my vehicles. I’ve got the right fuel. I can do all of that. But the food — all those places are fed by factory farms.”

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Along with the summer tour, Young released a new album with the band entitled FU##IN’ UP earlier this spring. The nine-song set included performances that were captured at a secret show at Toronto’s Rivoli last November.

“This version of Cinnamon Girl is an example of the energy captured as the horse road through the RIVOLI club in Toronto Nov 4, 2023,” a post on his website read.

In a January blog post, Young revealed that he’s been suffering from arthritis, but has managed to find a way to play the guitar that isn’t so painful.

He wrote that the last show he played with Crazy Horse in Toronto at the Queen Street venue was “so amazing.”

“It was a very special night. We captured it. Nothing new. Just my old songs and the Horse, but I felt so great, my singing was free and easy,” he wrote. “I can’t remember a night like that in decades.”

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