Pegi Young, the former wife of Neil Young, musician and founder of the Bridge School, has died at age 66 after battling cancer for a year.
Pegi is the mother of Neil’s children Ben and Amber and step-mother to Zeke. Her music career began by accident when she toured as a backing singer for Neil’s Shocking Pinks tour of 1983. Her first television appearance was in 1994 backing Neil at the Academy Awards for his nominated ‘Philadelphia’.
It wasn’t until 2007 when Pegi decided to release her first album. ‘Pegi Young’ was recorded at the couples Broken Arrow Ranch outside San Francisco. She made two more albums ‘Foul Deeds’ (2010) and ‘Bracing For Impact’ (2010).
She also formed a band The Survivors, made up of Neil’s band members Spooner Oldham on piano and Rick Rosas on bass. Rick died in 2014.
Pegi’s finest work was founding the Bridge School in Hillsborough, California. The school was for children with severe physical and speech impairments. (Neil’s son Ben was born with Cerebral Palsy).
Neil and Pegi held an annual concert to benefit the Bridge School until their divorce. The first concert in 1986 featured Neil, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Nils Lofgren, Don Henley, Tom Petty, Robin Williams and Bruce Springsteen.
The last in 2016 featured Neil, Metallica, Roger Waters, Dave Matthews, My Morning Jacket, Willie Nelson, Norah Jones, Cage the Elephant and Nils Lofgren.
Pegi Young also served on the board of directors of Rainforest Connection, an organization aimed at preventing deforestation.
She was inducted into the San Mateo Women’s Hall of Fame in 1996, she was honored for her work for the Bridge School at Rock the Vote in 1999 and also received the FRED Conference Pioneer Award for her Bridge School work in 2013.
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