In the cutthroat music industry, advice from older artists who have already been through the wringer a time or two (or three) can be invaluable, and fortunately for the young musicians who have found themselves in Neil Young’s orbit, that kind of guidance is something the Canadian folk-rock icon is more than willing to dole out. Interestingly, Young was at least partially responsible for saving two 1990s rock bands from non-existence: Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins. If the “Harvest Moon” singer had his way, he would have gladly helped a third decade-defining band, too.
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Young worked with Pearl Jam in the mid-1990s on a series of tour dates in which each act performed together on stage. Later, Pearl Jam’s bassist, Jeff Ament, reflected on what Young meant to the group. “We were feeling the pressure of being a big rock band at the time, and, in some ways, we probably put that pressure on ourselves. He made us realize it wasn’t that important. It’s not life-or-death stuff. It’s just music.” The band’s guitarist, Stone Gossard, also cited Young as an “instrumental” reason for why Pearl Jam stuck together as a band at all.
Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan recalled similar advice during an appearance on the Howard Stern Show. Describing the “best advice he’d ever gotten in his life,” Corgan said, “I was on a train platform with him in Japan, and I was b****ing and moaning about something about the music business. And he looked at me, kind of laughed, and he said, ‘Just put your head down and keep walking.’ As only Neil could say it.”
The 1990s Rock Band Neil Young Wasn’t Able to Save
By the time Neil Young was dishing out advice to the new generation of rock stars in the 1990s, he had already been in the music industry for decades. He knew all too well what it was like to be disillusioned by fading youth, fame, and the perils of the industry, which he summarized in songs like “Sugar Mountain”, “Hey Hey, My My”, and “The Needle and the Damage Done”, respectively. As someone who always prioritizes music over celebrity, it’s not surprising that Young would be so willing to help his younger cohorts. But there was one group he couldn’t get to in time.
In Young’s 2012 memoir, Waging Heavy Peace, the folk-rocker described his emotional reaction to discovering that Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain had included a line from Young’s song, “Hey Hey, My My,” in his suicide note. “He had been taking a lot of heat for canceling some shows,” Young wrote of Cobain. “I, coincidentally, had been trying to reach him through our offices to tell him that I thought he was great, and he should do exactly what he thought he should do, and f*** everybody else. I know him and recognized him for who he was. When he died and left that note [that included the line, “It’s better to burn out than to fade away”], it struck a deep chord inside of me. It f***ed with me.”
To be clear, Young would have had no way of knowing how close Cobain was to committing suicide, nor could he (or anyone) ever fully prevent something like that from happening. Nevertheless, Young’s guidance for younger artists is part of what makes him such an incredibly humble, passionate, and down-to-earth rockstar—a rare breed indeed.
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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