Neil Young place of birth Toronto
Early life (1945–1963)
Neil Young was born on November 12, 1945, in Toronto, Canada. His father, Scott Alexander Young (1918–2005), was a journalist and sportswriter who also wrote fiction. His mother, Edna Blow Ragland "Rassy" Young (1918–1990) was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Although Canadian, his mother had American and French ancestry. Young's parents married in 1940 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and moved to Toronto shortly thereafter where their first son, Robert "Bob" Young, was born in 1942.
Shortly after Young's birth in 1945, the family moved to rural Omemee, Ontario, which Young later described fondly as a "sleepy little place". Young contracted polio in the late summer of 1951 during the last major outbreak of the disease in Ontario, and as a result, became partially paralyzed on his left side. After the conclusion of his hospitalization, the Young family wintered in Florida, whose milder weather they believed would help Neil's convalescence. During that period, Young briefly attended Faulkner Elementary School in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. In 1952, upon returning to Canada, Young moved from Omemee to Pickering (1956), and lived for a year in Winnipeg (where he would later return), before relocating to Toronto (1957–1960). While in Toronto, Young briefly attended Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute as a first year student in 1959. It is rumoured that he was expelled for riding a motorcycle down the hall of the school.Young became interested in popular music he heard on the radio. When Young was twelve, his father, who had had several extramarital affairs, left his mother. His mother asked for a divorce, which was granted in 1960. Young went to live with his mother, who had moved back to Winnipeg, while his brother Bob stayed with his father in Toronto.During the mid-1950s, Young listened to rock 'n roll, rockabilly, doo-wop, R&B, country, and western pop. He idolized Elvis Presley and later referred to him in a number of his songs. Other early musical influences included Link Wray, Lonnie Mack, Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, The Ventures, Cliff Richard and the Shadows, Chuck Berry, Hank Marvin, Little Richard, Fats Domino, The Chantels, The Monotones, Ronnie Self, the Fleetwoods, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Gogi Grant. Young began to play music himself on a plastic ukulele, before, as he would later relate, going on to "a better ukulele to a banjo ukulele to a baritone ukulele – everything but a guitar."Personal life
Homes and residency
Young's family was from Manitoba, where both his parents were born and married. Young himself was born in Toronto, Ontario, and lived there at various times in his early life (1945, 1957, 1959–1960, 1966–1967), as well as Omemee (1945–1952) and Pickering, Ontario (1956) before settling with his mother in Winnipeg, Manitoba (1958, 1960–1966), where his music career began and which he considers his "hometown". Young has been outside Canada since 1967. After becoming successful, he bought properties in California. He currently holds dual citizenship for Canada and the United States.Young had a home in Malibu, California, which burned to the ground in the 2018 Woolsey Fire.Young owned Broken Arrow Ranch, a property of about 1,000 acres near La Honda, California, which he purchased in 1970 for US$350,000 (US$2.4 million in 2021 dollars); the property was subsequently expanded to thousands of acres. He moved out and gave Pegi Young the ranch after their divorce in 2014. Young's son Ben lives there.Young announced in 2019 that his application for United States citizenship had been held up because of his use of marijuana. In 2020, the issue was resolved and he became a United States citizen.
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