Neil Young recently canceled a previously announced 2026 European summer tour with his current backing band The Chrome Hearts. The folk-rock legend explained to fans who bought tickets in a message on his Neil Young Archives website, “I’m sorry to let you down, but this is not the time.”
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Young currently has no shows scheduled anywhere in 2026, but the 80-year-old Rok & Roll Hall Famer hasn’t been idle. Neil announced in a new post on his website he’s in the middle of a new recording project.
“Now, thankfully, once again, I’m in the studio recording a new album with the chrome hearts,” he revealed. “I love the songs and the feelings of life and love. Music is. So far, we have eight new songs. They make me feel.”
Young, who’s always been outspoken about politics, also had some heartfelt words about the current political upheaval n the U.S.
“Folks, I am so hurt for this country,” he wrote. “Politics today is sad and depressing for me. I can’t do it anymore. I can go out and demonstrate my feelings about it. We have the worst president in the history of our country. Every day, a bad TV show produced by [Donald Trump] is what we get.”
More About Young Work with The Chrome Hearts
Young began working with The Chrome Hearts in September 2024. The group features veteran keyboardist Spooner Oldham, as well as Micah Nelson on guitar), Corey McCormick on bass, and Anthony LoGerfo on drums.
Nelson, McCormick, and LoGerfo are former members of Promise Of The Real, the country-rock band led by Micah’s brother Lukas. Micah and Lukas are sons of country icon Willie Nelson. Promise Of The Real also had served as Neil’s backing band from 2015 to about 2019.
Young’s most recent studio album, Talkin’ To The Trees, was recorded with The Chrome Hearts. The album was released in June 2025.
Neil last played live with The Chrome Hearts in October 2025 at the Harvest Moon: A Gathering benefit concert in Lake Hughes, California.
Other Upcoming Neil Young Releases
Young also recently announced plans to release a new archival live album he recorded with his frequent backing band Crazy Horse in May 1997. Hard Luck Stories will feature renditions of rarely played Young songs from an intimate show at the Trocadero Transfer club in San Francisco.
Neil reported in a post on his Neil Young Archives website that the album will initially be available digitally exclusively to subscribers to the site. It later will be included in the upcoming Volume 4 of his Neil Young Archives box set series, which he says will be released in late 2026 or 2027.
Meanwhile, Young and The Chrome Hearts will be releasing a live album titled As Time Explodes on April 18 as part of the 2026 Record Store Day event. The album will be available as a limited-edition two-LP set exclusively at independent record outlets.
According to RecordStoreDay.co.uk, As Time Explodes is a 13-track collection recorded during select shows on Young and The Chrome Hearts’ 2025 tour dates in the U.S. and Europe.
The album includes a performance of a brand-new song called “Big Crime.” Young posted a video of Neil and the band performing the tune during the soundcheck of a 2025 show in Chicago on his YouTube channel.
(Photo by Daryl Hannah)
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