Neil Young drops out of Farm Aid 2021 due to pandemic concerns

Manny Sanchez

Neil Young has canceled his appearance at the 2021 edition of Farm Aid -- set for September 25 in Hartford, CT -- over concerns with pandemic safety.

“Lots is going on in our world right now,” Young wrote on his Archives site. “I find myself wondering whether Farm Aid will be safe for everyone with the Covid pandemic surging. I worry about that. I don’t want to let anybody down, but still can’t shake the feeling that it might not be safe for everyone. I worry ”

“All you people who can’t go to a concert because you still don’t feel safe, I stand with you,” he goes on to write. “I don’t want you to see me playing and think it’s safe now. I don’t want to play until you feel safe, and it is indeed, safe. My soul tells me it would be wrong to risk having anyone die because they wanted to hear music and be with friends. No matter where you are, I am with you. Do what you must, but think it through. We will be back. There is much work to do together.”

Young also worries about spreading the virus to children. “There are already too many children in hospitals," he writes.

Willie Nelson, John Cougar Mellencamp and Dave Matthews are still scheduled to play Farm Aid. "While I respect Willie, John and Dave’s decisions to stick with it and play, I am not of the same mind. It is a tough call.”