Neil Young, image via YouTube
Neil Young made his first live appearance of 2026 on Friday with a surprise set at a benefit concert. As part of a program celebrating the 90th birthday of Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki, Young took the stage for an unannounced solo acoustic staging and recognized his friend’s legacy with renditions of “After the Gold Rush” and “Heart of Gold.” Watch fan-recorded videos of the classics below.
Young’s appearance at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theater was his first time on stage since his set at the Harvest Moon Gathering, his benefit for the Painted Turtle and The Bridge School last October. Other guests in attendance included Jane Fonda, Al Gore, Bruce Cockburn and Sarah McLachlan.
In February, Young canceled all his tour dates for this year; he was set to return to the road in June for a two-month European run with The Chrome Hearts, which would have kicked off from Manchester, England on June 19 and come to a close in Udine, Italy on July 26. Elvis Costello & The Attractions were confirmed as the openers for a portion of the series.
While spending a moment away from the spotlight, the 80-year-old icon has hardly slowed down. In April, he announced that he’d finished recording Second Song, his second studio album with The Chrome Hearts, which he says featured three unheard songs that he wrote in 1963. That same update detailed As Time Explodes, his forthcoming live set with The Chrome Hearts, set to release on digital platforms this Friday, May 29.
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