RailsideK9Resort

Allegra, Monty & Maisie enjoyed sharing late summer days at The Resort 🐶❤️🐶❤️🐶❤️

May your final weekend of summer be THIS relaxed! ❤
*Livi was modelling her onesie to wear after her upcoming spaying; we will fix it so there's room for her tail etc. but she's sure comfy in it!

His name is Neil Young.

He was born in 1945 in Toronto, Ontario.

His father was Scott Young — a well-known Canadian sportswriter and novelist.

His mother took him and his brother to Winnipeg after his parents' separation.

He grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

He got polio as a child — like Joni Mitchell, from the same Canadian polio wave of the early 1950s.

He recovered.

He learned to play guitar.

He started bands in Winnipeg high schools. He played coffee houses. He played community centres. He played anywhere that would have him.

In 1966, at age 20, he drove from Toronto to Los Angeles in a hearse.

He co-founded Buffalo Springfield.

He co-founded Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

He launched a solo career that has now spanned six decades.

He wrote "Heart of Gold." "Old Man." "Harvest Moon." "Rockin' in the Free World." "Ohio." "Cortez the Killer." "After the Gold Rush." "Powderfinger." "Helpless." Hundreds more.

Rolling Stone ranked him as one of the greatest songwriters and one of the greatest guitarists of all time.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice — once as a solo artist in 1995, and once with Buffalo Springfield in 1997.

He was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2009.

He won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.

He has released over 45 studio albums.

He is 80 years old.

He is still recording.

He is still touring.

He is still writing songs.

But here is what makes Neil Young more than just a musician.

He has spent his entire career speaking up.

In 1970, four days after the Kent State University shootings in Ohio, he wrote and recorded "Ohio" — a protest song about the four students killed by the National Guard. It became one of the most famous protest songs in American history.

In 1985, he co-founded Farm Aid with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp — the annual benefit concert supporting American family farmers facing foreclosure. It has now raised over $80 million for farming families over 40 years.

In 1986, he co-founded The Bridge School in California with his then-wife Pegi — a school for children with severe speech and physical impairments. Both of his sons were born with cerebral palsy. He and Pegi organized the annual Bridge School Benefit Concert for 30 years to fund the school.

In the 2000s and 2010s, he became one of the most prominent musical voices on climate change, Indigenous rights, and the environmental impact of the Alberta oil sands.

In 2014, he released "Who's Gonna Stand Up?" — a song and album directly addressing environmental crisis and Indigenous land rights.

In 2022, he pulled his music catalogue from Spotify in protest of platform decisions he disagreed with. He accepted the significant financial loss without hesitation.

He has, throughout his career, refused to be silent.

He has, throughout his career, put his money and his platform behind his convictions.

He has been criticized. He has lost fans over the years. He has cost himself money.

He has kept doing it.

He is deeply Canadian.

He never renounced his Canadian citizenship. He has held Canadian and American citizenship simultaneously for decades. He returns to Canada regularly. He speaks about his Winnipeg childhood in interviews. He credits the Canadian folk music scene with shaping his early career.

In 2019, he became an American citizen — but he specifically noted that he remained a Canadian citizen as well and refused to give up his Canadian passport.

He said: "Canada is my home. It will always be my home."

He is Canada's.

He is also the world's.

He is one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century.

He is one of the most consistent musical activists of our time.

He is one of the most prolific recording artists still working today.

At 80, he has done more than most artists do in three careers.

He is still going.

A Toronto boy.
A Winnipeg upbringing.
A polio recovery.
A drive to Los Angeles in a hearse at age 20.
A career that has now spanned six decades.
A catalogue of hundreds of songs that will outlive all of us.
A conscience that has refused to stay quiet.

We owe him our thanks.

For the music. For the conscience. For staying Canadian. For speaking up when it was unpopular. For putting his money where his mouth was.

For being, at 80, still one of the most important voices in North American culture.

Neil Young.

Toronto. Winnipeg. Everywhere.

Canada's rough-edged, unfiltered, uncompromising voice.

Still writing.

Still recording.

Still Canadian.

Still ours. 🍁