{"id":804044,"date":"2020-02-11T06:00:06","date_gmt":"2020-02-11T13:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=949425"},"modified":"2020-02-11T06:00:06","modified_gmt":"2020-02-11T13:00:06","slug":"neil-young-stephen-stills-and-willie-nelson-unite-for-los-angeles-autism-benefit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/neil-young-stephen-stills-and-willie-nelson-unite-for-los-angeles-autism-benefit\/","title":{"rendered":"Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Willie Nelson Unite for Los Angeles Autism Benefit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Stephen Stills<\/a> and his wife Kristen are bringing their long-running autism benefit show Light Up the Blues to L.A.\u2019s Greek Theater on May 30th with a bill that includes Neil Young<\/a>, Willie Nelson, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Lucius and Fantastic Negrito \u2014 along with Stills himself and his sons Oliver Stills and Chris Stills.<\/p>\n

Long-time Light Up the Blues friend Jack Black will be returning once again to serve as the emcee of the evening. Tickets go on sale Friday February 14th at 10:00 am PST.<\/p>\n

The Stills\u2019 (whose adult son Henry is on the autism spectrum) staged the first Light Up the Blues show in 2013 at the Club Nokia in Los Angeles to raise funds for Autism Speaks. Over the years, it grew to progressively larger venues like the Theater at the Ace Hotel, the Pantages Theater and the Dolby Theater. Along the way, everyone from Burt Bacharach to Beck, Lucinda Williams and Crosby, Stills and Nash have performed.<\/p>\n

The 5,870-seat Greek Theater is the biggest place they\u2019ve ever held it. \u201cIt\u2019s a logical progression for us,\u201d Stephen tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cThey welcomed us with open arms. And if you go any bigger than it, it becomes a zoo. Neil [Young] warned me, \u2018Go too big and suddenly it turns into a thing that eats up half your year.’\u201d<\/p>\n

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The last Light Up the Blues took place April 21st, 2018 at the Dolby Theater. It\u2019s such an enormous undertaking that the Stills family now book one every other year. \u201cWe had to move out of our house for about a year to get some work done,\u201d Kristen says. \u201cWe knew that would be a good year not to plan a concert. But then Neil stopped by a year ago and said, \u2018Let\u2019s do it in 2020.\u2019 That\u2019s where it started.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephen remembers the moment well. \u201cHe just came roaring in one day,\u201d he says. \u201cHe said, \u2018You\u2019re going to do it and I\u2019m going to be there. If you need anything, just call.\u2019 Of course, it\u2019s like trying to call Howard Hughes. But he\u2019s always there for me. God bless him.\u201d<\/p>\n