Report: Neil Young Not Touring In 2017

Legendary rocker Neil Young will reportedly be taking 2017 off from touring. News of the 71-year-old musician’s decision to take time off came along with his cancelling an appearance at Byron Bay Bluesfest in Australia.

Young and Promise Of The Real were slated to perform on Friday, April 14, 2017 during the second day of the 28th annual event. A message posted by the fest’s director Peter Noble both confirmed Young’s backing out and reason for doing so. Noble wrote:

Although I have been aware of this as a possibility for a couple of weeks now, I have been appealing to Neil’s management for him to play the confirmed concert. Unfortunately, this is now not going to happen. Whilst details for the cancellation remain sketchy, from what I can gather Neil has decided to take 2017 off from touring.

At the moment, there isn’t an official statement from Neil’s management regarding the cancellation. I have no reason to believe this is due to any illness, I have been advised he is tired from recent touring, and I surmise wants to have some down time.

Bluesfest had its own contract with Neil’s representatives for the performance, paid the required deposit, and had full permission to announce the Bluesfest performance.

I note, that an announcement saying Neil would not be touring, occurred recently by Frontier Touring. I do want to say again, that the Bluesfest contracted performance occurred directly with Neil Young’s representatives …

I want to wish Neil Young the very best and appreciate what he is doing for First Nations People at Standing Rock. We look forward to presenting him soon at Bluesfest.

Noble’s message references a recent social media update from Australian event promoters Frontier Touring that confirmed Neil Young would not be playing shows next year in Australia and New Zealand. The company had stated earlier that such a run was in the works for 2017.