{"id":791691,"date":"2019-01-02T19:11:45","date_gmt":"2019-01-03T02:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=774378"},"modified":"2019-01-02T19:11:45","modified_gmt":"2019-01-03T02:11:45","slug":"pegi-young-bridge-school-co-founder-with-ex-husband-neil-young-dead-at-66","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/pegi-young-bridge-school-co-founder-with-ex-husband-neil-young-dead-at-66\/","title":{"rendered":"Pegi Young, Bridge School Co-Founder With Ex-Husband Neil Young, Dead at 66"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/9053062ac.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"\/><\/div>\n<p>Pegi Young, a singer-songwriter who was married to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/neil-young\/\" id=\"auto-tag_neil-young\" data-tag=\"neil-young\">Neil Young<\/a> for 36 years, died Tuesday after a yearlong battle with cancer. She was 66. \u201c[She] passed away surrounded by her friends and family in her native California,\u201d reads a short statement on her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BsJwMDFBDOz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">official Instagram account<\/a>. \u201cWe request that the families\u2019 privacy be respected at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Young was working as a waitress at a diner near Neil Young\u2019s ranch when they met in the mid-Seventies. \u201cNever saw a woman look finer,\u201d Neil Young wrote in his 1992 classic song \u201cUnknown Legend,\u201d one of several songs about their love that also include \u201cHarvest Moon\u201d and \u201cSuch an Angel.\u201d \u201cI used to order just to watch her float across the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TkL_IevacnU?version=3&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>In the early years of their marriage, Young devoted herself nearly full-time to raising their daughter Amber and son Ben, the latter born with cerebral palsy. But in 1994,\u00a0 she began singing background vocals for her husband, starting at the Academy Awards when she joined him on \u201cPhiladelphia.\u201d Six years later, she hit the road with him on the Friends and Relatives tour and became a mainstay in his band over the next decade. \u201cWhen I started touring with him, I get treated pretty much like any other band member,\u201d she <a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/blog\/interviews\/pegi-young\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">told Songfacts<\/a> in 2011. \u201cHe certainly doesn\u2019t cut me any more slack than anybody else. If he wants to hear something a certain way, he\u2019s the clear boss, leader of the band.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 2007, Young recorded her self-titled debut LP with keyboardist Spooner Oldham, guitarist Anthony Crawford, bassist Rick Rosas and pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith. She went on to record four more albums and tour extensively. \u201cI think it\u2019s somewhat of a natural progression,\u201d she told the <em>Boston Herald<\/em> in 2010. \u201cI was writing and singing and playing a bit in my own fashion when I was younger, before Neil and I got together [in 1974]. It was a return to a longtime love of mine. I think it is up to me to do the best job I can do. I don\u2019t take it casually. I\u2019m not the next young hot thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition to her music career, Young devoted much of her time and energy to the Bridge School. She founded the esteemed institution in 1986 to help kids like Ben that have severe speech and physical impairments. The annual Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, California continually attracts A-level talent and helps raise money for the school. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7LBO46J2xmc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">David Bowie<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mUu-BZR9VTg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">the Who<\/a>\u00a0and a Temple of the Dog reunion have all highlighted the annual event.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ro5FT9NxNCg?version=3&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was my idea to have Bruce Springsteen play that first year,\u201d Pegi <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/bridge-school-celebrates-25-years-with-box-set-74497\/\">told <em>Rolling Stone<\/em><\/a> in 2010. \u201cHe was just coming off a three-year rock and roll tour with Born in the USA and I thought that if he was anything like me, he\u2019ll want to do something completely the opposite now. We\u2019ve been so blessed over the years with artists donating their time. Looking back at that first year, it seems like an exercise in simplicity compared to what it is these days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 2014, Neil Young <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/neil-young-files-for-divorce-from-pegi-young-wife-of-36-years-62872\/\">filed for divorce<\/a> from Pegi. \u201cWe were having a rough patch,\u201d Pegi told <em>Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cBut I never would\u2019ve thought in a million years we would be getting divorced. So, yeah, there was a bit of a shock value there.\u201d She poured her heartbreak into the songs on her last LP, 2016\u2019s <em>Raw<\/em>. \u201cIt told a story,\u201d she said. \u201cI kind of look at it as a soundtrack to the seven stages of grief. You\u2019ve got anger, then shock and disbelief. As we go through the album, the later songs show my growth and \u2026 I can\u2019t say total acceptance, but I think the last song, that wonderful Don Henley song [\u201cThe Heart of the Matter\u201d], talks about forgiveness. That\u2019s really where it\u2019s at, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NNqiHM2liIw?version=3&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>She wanted the album to convey to others going through a similar situation that they are not alone. \u201cWe go through things we may not\u2019ve expected, what we thought was maybe our future,\u201d she said. \u201cBut even if we get the shock of our lifetime, life goes on. You figure out who you are again, and you just keep going on. I\u2019m a living persona of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pegi Young \u2013 \u201cTrying to Live My Life Without You\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oai7LvGc0FA?version=3&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pegi Young \u2013 \u201cLove Like Water\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/R9TpmX7JBwE?version=3&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/pegi-young-neil-bridge-school-dead-774378\/\" target=\"_blank\">via:: Rolling Stone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pegi Young, a singer-songwriter who was married to Neil Young for 36 years, died Tuesday after a yearlong battle with cancer. She was 66. \u201c[She] passed away surrounded by her friends and family in her native California,\u201d reads a short statement on her official Instagram account. \u201cWe request that the families\u2019 privacy be respected at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-791691","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 22:53:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791691\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}