The Charitable Mr. Neil Young Keeps On Giving & Giving & Giving

Neil Young
MusiCares 2010 Person of the Year

Rarely -- if ever -- has a single artist supported so many causes, for such a sustained period, raising considerable funds and awareness while reaching out to millions and millions around the world.

Earlier this year, Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year in Los Angeles, two days before the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards. An impressive roster of musicians lined up to honor Young which included Booker T. Jones, Jack Black, Jackson Browne, T Bone Burnett, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Sheryl Crow, Everest, Patty Griffin, Josh Groban, Ben Harper, Emmylou Harris, Elton John, Norah Jones, Lady Antebellum, k.d. lang, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Ozomatli, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Leon Russell, James Taylor, Wilco, and Lucinda Williams.

Recently, we started to update a list of benefit concerts that Neil Young has played over the years that we posted on the Rust list back in 1994. And the diversity of causes is particularly striking. Of course, the two primary beneficiaries of Neil's generosity have been the Bridge School Benefit Concerts and Farm AID. The Bridge School concerts began in 1987 and are to benefit the school for children with severe speech and physical impairments. The Farm Aid concerts began in 1985 and benefit the small American family farm. Farm Aid is the longest running event of its type in music history.

Neil has performed annually at both the Bridge and Farm AID shows and has raised considerable sums for these causes. The performances at these two annual benefits are well documented.


The Farm Aid 4
Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Neil Young

But what about the other benefits and causes of the charitable Mr. Young?

Here's what we've found from perusing the indispensable Ghosts On The Road - Neil Young In Concert by Pete Long.

Operation Challenge/ACLU Kent State Project, Cleveland, OH 11/14/70

Prisoners Welfare Fund Benefit Concert, San Francisco, CA, 3/26/72

Red Wind Foundation Benefit Concert, San Luis Obispo, CA 3/16/74


Bob Dylan, Rick Danko & Neil Young

S.N.A.C.K. Benefit, Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, CA w/ Bob Dylan & The Band, 3/23/75

Mike Bloomfield Benefit, The Ritz, NYC, NY, on March 2, 1981.

Tears Are Not Enough - Canadian Artists Band AID video, benefit African famine victims 2/85

Live AID w/CSNY - Philadelphia, PA, 7/13/85

Greenpeace Benefit - Arlington Theater, Santa Barbara, CA w/ CSNY, 2/6/86

Vietnam Vets Benefit Forum, Los Angeles, CA w/ G. Nash, 2/24/86

Greenpeace Benefit - Auckland, New Zealand, 4/5/86


Neil Young at 2006 Farm Aid Press Conference
Photo by Kim Buchheit

Get Tough on Toxics Benefit, Long Beach Arena, CA, 6/28/86

Greenpeace Benefit Concert, Santa Barbara, CA 2/6/87

Shakin' All Over - Winnipeg Band Reunion - benefited the Variety Club of Manitoba - charity for handicapped children, 6/28/87

Saragaso Tornado Benefit, Manor Downs, Austin, TX, 8/16/87

Hungerthon - Palace Theater, Los Angeles, CA w/ CSNY, 11/12/88

Nordoff Robins Music Therapy Benefit Concert - NYC, NY, 11/17/88


Paul McCartney and Neil Young
"Only Love Can Break Your Heart"
Bridge School Benefit Concert - October 23, 2004
Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, CA
Photo by Kim Komenich of San Francisco Chronicle

Friends of Parents Helping Parents - Santa Clara, CA, 12/88

Earthquake Aid - Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA, 11/26/89

Dallas Taylor Benefit - Santa Monica, CA benefit former CSNY drummer, 3/31/90

California Environment Benefit Concert, Santa Monica, CA, 4/1/90

Nelson Mandela Benefit, Wembley Stadium, London, 4/16/90

Bill Graham Tribute w/ CSNY, San Francisco, CA, 11/1/91

Walden Woods Benefit - Los Angeles, CA, 4/1/92

Children's Health Benefit, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, LA, CA w/ Simon & Garfunkel, 3/1/93

Save Old Growth Forests - Portland, OR, 4/1/93


photo by Buzz Person

Native American Scholarship Fund Concert - Verde Valley School, Sedona, AZ, - 10/22/93

Voters For Choice Benefit, January 14 & 15, 1995

Walden Woods Benefit concert - NYC, NY, 10/1/95

Multiple Schlerosis Benefit concert - NYC, NY, 10/29/96

BAMA Works Benefit concert - Charlottesville, VA, 4/21/01

Neil Young Performs "Imagine" on 9/11 Tribute

"America: A Tribute to Heroes" 9/11 Telethon, 9/2001

Clean Air Benefit, Vancouver Island Clean-air Benefit, Canada, 9/2004


St. Paul, MN - October 5, 2004
photo by Muriël Kleisterlee and Jos Westenberg

Vote for Change Concert Tour, 10/2004

Adopt-A-Minefield Benefit, Los Angeles w/ Paul McCartney, 10/2004


Hurricane Katrina Telethon: React Now - 9/2005

Hurricane Katrina Telethon: React Now - 9/2005


Neil Young and Fisk University Jubilee Choir

Hurricane Katrina Benefit: "Shelter From the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast", 9/2005


Neil Young, Buckcherry's Josh Todd & Gordon Lightfoot

Live 8 - End Global Poverty, 9/2005

Benefit For Museum Of Natural History in New York City on 16 November, 2005.


photo by Evan Agostini

AIDS Foundation's fifth annual benefit at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Elton John and Neil Young performed together at the October 3, 2006

Cinnamon Girl Benefit: Women Artists Cover Neil Young for Breast Cancer, 2008

Sarah McLachlan Foundation Benefit, Vancouver, Canada, 9/2009


Dave Matthews and Neil Young
Covering Hank Williams’ “Alone and Forsaken”
Hope For Haiti Telethon
Screen Grab by Patricia

Hope For Haiti Telethon, 1/2010

Gulf Coast Benefit Concert Tour 2010

Neil Young
UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Benefit @ Nob Hill Masonic Center
San Francisco, CA - 12/8/10
Photo by SF Weekly Blog

Neil Young @ UCSF Benefit, 12/8/10 Report

Certainly this is only a partial listing as there are surely many undocumented causes and performances that Neil has supported over the years. But you get the idea. He's got a heart of gold.


Pegi & Neil Young at Bridge 2005 Concert
photo by Craig Abaya

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