Neil Young to Release Autobiography Next Year

Neil Young attends the premiere of 'Neil Young Journeys' in Toronto.

Peter Bregg/Getty Images

Neil Young is the latest A-list rock star to decide to write a memoir: His bookWaging Heavy Peace will hit shelves in the fall of 2012. "I felt like writing books fit me like a glove," Young said in a statement. "I started and I just kept going. That's the way my Daddy used to do it on his old Underwood up in the attic.  He said, 'Just keep writing, you never know what will turn up.'" The book is being published by Blue Rider Press, a new imprint of Penguin.

"This promises to be a revealing, intimate book that will provide the window into Neil's life and career that fans and admirers have always wanted," said Blue Rider President David Rosenthal. 

Young's father Scott Young was as prominent sports journalist in Canada. In 1984 he published Neil And Me, which chronicled his sometimes turbulent relationship with his son. In 2003, Jimmy McDonough released Shakey: Neil Young's Biography, based around extensive interviews the writer conducted with Young, his family, friends and numerous bandmates. Despite the access that Young provided, he later sued McDonough in an attempt to stop the book's publication. Legal wrangling held up publication of the book for three years. 

Young joins a long list of rock stars – including Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Steven Tyler – who have released memoirs in recent years. 


By Andy Greene
Originally Published in Rolling Stone