“Crazy Horse will be back, God willing”

Neil Young spoke about the cancellation of the Crazy Horse concert I love the Earth tour, citing health issues as the main reason.

During a recent Zoom call with his followers Neil Young ArchivesYoung shared the challenges that led to this difficult decision.

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“I was doing really well and we were making great strides. Everyone was loving the shows. Then one morning I woke up on the bus and I was like, ‘I can’t do this. I have to stop.’ I felt like I was going to feel bad about going on stage,” Young explained in a video shared to Reddit on August 28.

“My body was telling me, ‘You have to stop.’ So I listened to my body.”

The cancellation, announced in late June, came after several band members, including Young, fell ill after their performance at Detroit’s Pine Knob.

The band had to put their first tour together in a decade on hold. “We are not yet fully recovered, so unfortunately our major tour will be taking a long, unplanned hiatus,” the band said in a statement posted on Young’s official website at the time.

Young acknowledged the complexity of canceling a tour, including legal and logistical challenges.

“Then there’s all the legal stuff: ‘You have this, you have that, people bought tickets, they did this, they did that.’ I get that. What matters to me is the art of performing and the music. That’s what matters. That’s what people liked. That’s what they come to see. But if it’s not there, I don’t go,” Young continued.

Despite the setback, Young remains optimistic about the future. “I’m starting to feel like I could do it again and that’s a great feeling. Not all of Crazy Horse – it’s happened to a few of us and we’re not fully back yet. Crazy Horse will be back, God willing. And we’ll play more often.”

In the meantime, fans can look forward to Young’s upcoming performance at this year’s Farm Aid, scheduled for September 21 at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York. Looking ahead, Young hinted at the possibility of a more intimate tour, focusing on smaller venues where he has previously played.

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