Neil Young's distinctive sound and identity is a little bit country, and a little bit rock n' roll, but his life story is definitely more of a ballad than a rocking anthem. He's weathered everything from a fractured family to deadly health scares. This is the tragic life story of Neil Young. The polio vaccine was widely distributed in the mid-1950s, saving millions from paralyzation and days spent in iron lungs. But for Neil Young, born in Canada in 1945, that all came too late.
In his memoir, Waging Heavy Peace, Young remembers being around five years old when his parents rushed him to Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto, and that it was, quote, "hard for [him] to walk for some reason." A painful lumbar puncture revealed what the doctor feared: Young Neil had polio. The disease had ravaged his body, and his brother, Bob Young, recalls a lengthy hospitalization, after which Neil had to re-learn how to walk. Bob said,
"I remember him trying to get from one part of the living room to another by hanging on to furniture to keep his balance. He was unsure of what had happened with his battle with polio. 'I didn't die, did I?' he said."
Young felt the wages of polio well into adulthood. Lower back vertebrae were surgically removed, and he frequently wore a back brace, even during concerts.
Watch the video for more Sad And Tragic Details About Neil Young.
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Born too early | 0:16
Broken family | 1:20
Diabetes and epilepsy | 2:10
High and dry | 3:13
Too intense | 4:21
Getting served | 5:35
A deadly aneurysm | 6:48
Falling for a star | 7:45
Burned to the ground | 8:41
The next IPod | 9:21
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