Neil Young cancels remainder of Crazy Horse tour, citing band illness

Neil Young announced Wednesday that the remaining dates of the tour he was doing with his longtime band Crazy Horse were canceled, due to an illness that has struck “a few of us” since their last performance in may. He did not say whether he was among those affected.

The cancellations concern shows in three months. Affected are the seven Canadian shows Young had scheduled in July, as well as three U.S. shows he had scheduled for late September, at the Hollywood Bowl, the Eddie Vedder-led Ohana Fest in Southern California, and the Bourbon & Beyond Festival from Kentucky.

Young said in a statement on its website that the unnamed band members had fallen ill at some point after their last concert, which took place over a month ago on May 22 at the Pine Knob Music Theater in Clarkston, Michigan.

He didn't specify the exact length of their break, but it quickly became clear on upcoming festival web pages that the “unscheduled big break” would indeed extend until the end of September. A page for Young's concert at the Hollywood Bowl on September 29 now leads to an error message, and the Bowl now appears as dark on that date on the official venue calendar. The website for the Ohaha festival in Dana Point now lists “TBA” in place of the Saturday night headliner that Young held, and a representative for the festival confirmed that it is looking for a replacement.

“The Love Earth Tour has been a great experience for us so far,” Young began his message to fans. “GREAT AUDIENCES AND MUSIC. WE HAD A FUN!”

He continued: “When some of us got sick after the Pine Knob in Detroit, we had to stop. We're not fully recovered yet, so unfortunately our big tour is going to take an unplanned big break. We'll try to play some of the dates we missed over time, when we're ready to start rocking again! We know many of you have plans to travel and we apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding and patience. »

Young concluded: “Health is the No. 1 priority…. We want to stay and do more shows and more albums for you…. and for us…. With love and thanks to all of you at Crazy Horse… Neil, Micah, Ralph and Billy… Love Earth.

Young's statement seemed to leave open the possibility that tickets would remain valid for certain dates at a later time, but there was nothing firm about that. A representative for Young said he was awaiting additional information for ticket holders.

Although Young did not specify which band members were ill, at a concert in New York last month, Crazy Horse's rhythm section — bassist Billy Talbot and drummer Ralph Molina, both 80 — appeared to be struggling to meet the physical demands of the two-hour set, with most songs played at tempos slower than their studio recordings.

As of this writing, Ticketmaster still has tickets on sale for the Hollywood Bowl show, but the disappearance of the event from several pages of the Bowl website seems to confirm that it has disappeared along with the other shows. No one will blame these cancellations on poor sales, at least: a seating chart still in place for the Bowl concert shows that the seats only remain at the very back.

A representative for Ohana Fest highlighted a statement on social media that reads: “We are sad to announce that Neil Young with Crazy Horse will no longer be performing at Ohana Festival 2024. Please stay tuned for an update of the upcoming programming as soon as possible; In the meantime, we wish the group a speedy recovery. Bourbon & Beyond posted a similar message saying to “stay tuned for a replacement announcement.”

Young fans saddened by the cancellations can at least console themselves with the release of a highly anticipated album Friday, “Early Daze,” a collection of previously unreleased recordings Young made with Crazy Horse in 1969.

Additional reporting by Jem Aswad.