In between Neil Young and Crazy Horse first canceling the remaining dates of their Love Earth tour and Young forming his new band, Chrome Hearts, alarm bells were ringing for fans of the pioneering rock musician. At 80 years old, was Young reaching the end of his touring days? Even worse, was there something significantly wrong with his physical or mental health? The statement the band released following the indefinite postponement indeed confirmed it was about health, leaving many of us to wonder how bad it really was.
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“When a couple of us got sick after Detroit’s Pine Knob [the night before the first show was canceled], we all had to stop,” the band said. “We are still not fully recovered. So, sadly, our tour will have a big unplanned break. We will try to play some of the dates we miss as time passes when we are ready to rock again!”
The announcement was undoubtedly a blow to Young and Crazy Horse fans. But for the band, it was an even more devastating loss of time, effort, and excitement. That, paired with the obvious toll sickness had on the mind and body, made it difficult for Young to bounce back.
That’s when Micah Nelson, son of country music legend Willie Nelson, stepped in to offer Young an encouraging phone call (or two or three).
Micah Nelson Helped Neil Young Get New Backing Band, Chrome Hearts
Micah Nelson and his older brother, Lukas Nelson, had been working closely with Neil Young for over a decade by the time the folk-rock icon canceled his 2024 tour. The Nelson brothers and Lukas’ band, Promise of the Real, backed Young on multiple albums and tours from the early aughts to 2020, when the pandemic paused all live performances. Micah was planning on being on the road with Crazy Horse in 2024 until a band-wide sickness forced the group to postpone the tour.
Months after the announcement, Young had a new band called the Chrome Hearts, featuring Micah, Promise of the Real’s Corey McCormick and Anthony LoGerfo, and organist Spooner Oldham. During a 2025 interview with Rolling Stone, Micah recalled how he tried to make sure Young knew he had the potential to get back on the road (even if it didn’t feel like it in the throes of his illness).
“I was like, ‘Is Neil fading away? This is unacceptable,’” Micah said. “So, I’d call him and check in on him and remind him how he’s not old. I was like, ‘Whatever you got to do, man. Take your time. I get it. Recharge. The tank has got to fill back up, and that can take time. But whenever you want to do the thing again, just call me up, and I’m ready to go.’ kept that idea going and reminding him that he didn’t play for four years, and he felt the rust. Then, it took a few years once he started again to really, really get back in the groove.”
The Younger Artist Said He Planted the Seed, but Neil Young Harvested It
Sometimes, a musician’s biggest enemy is themselves. Self-doubt, particularly at a low or especially difficult period in one’s career, can be a death knell for some artists. Part of the beauty of making music (and art in general) is getting to fly in the face of what seems logical or responsible. Committing oneself to one’s craft means following the muse and pursuing the urge to create without wasting one’s energy on the ill-fated ‘what if I’m not good enough’ question.
“It took a minute of sort of just micro-dosing with this idea of, ‘We don’t have to stop. I know you’re not done.’ And then the natural organic process of seasons of inspiration, how they come around,” Micah Nelson told Rolling Stone. “I was just planting those seeds so that when that started coming around, he had something to pick out of the ground and harvest. That’s what became the Chrome Hearts.”
Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
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