4 Famous Rock Stars That Were Inspired by Neil Young

Neil Young is a certified legend in the world of singer/songwriters and folk rock. It’s no surprise that quite a few of Young’s contemporaries were heavily inspired by his work. Let’s take a look at four famous rock stars who have said they were inspired by Neil Young!

1. Kurt Cobain

Out of all of the entries on our list of rock stars who were inspired by Neil Young, this one is the most heartbreaking. Nirvana’s frontman Kurt Cobain was quite a fan of Young’s music. He even quoted one of Young’s songs in his suicide note before taking his own life in 1994.

This made a huge impact on Young. In fact, when he heard about Cobain’s death and the mention of one of his songs in Cobain’s note, Young penned the song “Sleeps With Angels” in honor of the late great grunge icon.

2. Thurston Moore

Sonic Youth was clearly inspired by a plethora of bands, aesthetics, and culture in the 1980s. However, at least one member of the band was significantly influenced by Neil Young. Thurston Moore has talked about how much of a genius Young is numerous times.

“Last time I saw Neil Young in New York City, he was playing all his great Neil Young songs, but in some of them he would get into these long noise eruptions,” said Moore in 2017. “It was amazing and I would be really appreciative of it. People sitting in front of me got really upset because he wouldn’t stop doing it. One guy got up and started yelling. I thought it was interesting because he had no interest or consideration for what Neil was trying to do in terms of free sonic expression. It’s all music, isn’t it? It’s all sound.”

3. Noel Gallagher

Noel Gallagher of Oasis is a big Neil Young fan. He’s been quite colorful with his praise for the “Heart Of Gold” hitmaker, too. Where Moore appreciated Young for his improvisation and use of sound, Gallagher appreciated Young for his painful honesty in his songwriting.

“I’ve seen him with Crazy Horse, with acoustic gigs, and he always comes from a place of truth,” Noel once said of Young. “He’s invented a car that runs on f***ing grass or something. The world can be split into two camps: people that like Neil Young and people that don’t. And the people that don’t are f***ing idiots.”

4. Trey Anastasio

Phish’s Trey Anastasio is one of the biggest famous Young fans around. He talks about the folk rock icon every chance he gets. In a Rolling Stone interview, Anastasio once said that if he were in the position to teach young guitar players, the first thing he would do is play Young’s guitar solo from “Down By The River”.

“It’s one-note, but it’s so melodic, and it just snarls with attitude and anger,” said Anastasio.

Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images

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