While coronavirus continues to spread around the country and the world, there’s been somewhat of a return to normalcy in recent months. One area this is evident is through concerts and other large-scale shows. In the past year, showcases like Coachella, Rolling Loud, Lollapalooza, and more as well as tours from both big and small artists have all been up and running. Despite this, Neil Young isn’t comfortable holding concerts again and explained why in a statement to fans. It all started when he revealed that he would not perform at this year’s Farm Aid, an annual benefit for American farmers.
“I will not be at Farmaid this year,” Young wrote on his website in response to a fan’s letter. “I am not ready for that yet. I don’t think it is safe in the pandemic. I miss it very much.”
Neil Young has not performed live since 2019, which we all know is pre-pandemic times. His comments in response to the fan are similar to that of which he made at the end of 2021 during an interview with Howard Stern. There, Young said he would not return to performing until the coronavirus was “beat” and the pandemic was over. “I don’t care if I’m the only one who doesn’t do it,” he said during the conversation.
It was also Neil Young that had his music removed from Spotify because that platform continuously allowed Joe Rogan to spread misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine on his podcast. So, it’s clear that the legendary singer is very serious about maintaining safety around the virus.