Pegi Young

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American singer, songwriter, environmentalist, philanthropist

title: "Pegi Young" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1952-births", "2019-deaths", "people-from-san-mateo,-california", "american-women-singer-songwriters", "singer-songwriters-from-california", "philanthropists-from-california", "educators-from-california", "american-women-educators", "american-folk-guitarists", "american-folk-singers", "20th-century-american-guitarists", "guitarists-from-california", "american-acoustic-guitarists", "deaths-from-cancer-in-california", "20th-century-american-philanthropists", "20th-century-american-women-guitarists", "21st-century-american-women", "musicians-from-san-mateo,-california", "activists-from-san-mateo,-california"] description: "American singer, songwriter, environmentalist, philanthropist" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegi_Young" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American singer, songwriter, environmentalist, philanthropist ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
namePegi Young
imagePegi Morton Young.jpg
alt
birth_nameMargaret Mary Morton
birth_date
birth_placeSan Mateo, California, U.S.
death_date
death_placeMountain View, California, U.S.
other_names{{plainlist
occupation
years_active1983–2019
spouse
module{{Infobox musical artist
backgroundsolo_singer
genre
instrument
labelVapor/Warner Bros.
::

| name = Pegi Young | image = Pegi Morton Young.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Margaret Mary Morton | birth_date = | birth_place = San Mateo, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Mountain View, California, U.S. | other_names = {{plainlist|

  • Pegi Morton Young}} | occupation = | years_active = 1983–2019 | spouse = | website = | module = {{Infobox musical artist|embed=yes | background = solo_singer | genre = | instrument = | label = Vapor/Warner Bros. Margaret Mary "Pegi" Young (née Morton, December 1, 1952 – January 1, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter, environmentalist, educator and philanthropist.

Music career

After marrying Canadian folk rock musician Neil Young in 1978, her debut as a singer came in 1983 when she was a member of The Pinkettes, the backing vocalists on her husband's rockabilly Shocking Pinks tour. In 1994 she made her first nationwide TV appearance at the Academy Awards, singing backup on Neil's song "Philadelphia", nominated for an Oscar.

The Youngs performed together at a number of their annual Bridge School Benefit Concerts. Young joined her then husband on his 2000 tour as a backup singer.

In 2007, after recording songs in her home studio at the Broken Arrow Ranch, she released her self-titled debut album. and Bracing for Impact (2011). She toured and performed with her band The Survivors, which included Spooner Oldham on piano, Rick Rosas on bass, Kelvin Holly on guitar and drummer Phil Jones.

Philanthropy

In 1986, Young co-founded the Bridge School, an educational program aimed at serving the needs of children with severe physical and speech impairments.

She was inspired to create the school based on her experiences with her son Ben, who was born with cerebral palsy, a congenital condition that can be influenced by hereditary factors. For Ben, the condition resulted in severe speech difficulties and motor impairment.

Young founded the school with additional help from Jim Forderer, a fellow parent of a child with specialized educational needs, and Dr. Marilyn Buzolich.

The Youngs raised awareness of their newly founded school with their Bridge School Benefit Concert, which ran annually from 1986 until 2016, bringing in musicians such as Mazzy Star, Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, Tony Bennett, Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams, Jack White and Metallica. Graduates from the Bridge School have often returned to their home school districts and continued their education once their basic educational needs were met in the Bridge School's more specialized setting.

She served in the capacity of executive director of the Bridge School for seven years, and as president of the board of directors since its inception in 1986 until her death.

Educational outreach

Young served on the board of A.R.T. (Artistic Realization Technologies), an organization dedicated to bringing avenues for creative expression through art into the lives of individuals with severe disabilities. She was on the Advisory Board of the "virtual" AAC-RERC

Young served for four years on the board of the Alliance for Technology Access, a grassroots organization of 43 community based centers around the country serving individuals with disabilities, aimed at increasing their independence through the use of technology.

Environmentalism

Young performed at and hosted Farm Aid with her then-husband Neil in 2007 and in 2012, and, in 2013, began serving on the board of directors of Rainforest Connection, an organization aimed at preventing deforestation by using real-time data collection to maximize the effectiveness of ground enforcement.

Personal life and death

Young was born Margaret Mary Morton in San Mateo, California, on December 1, 1952 to Thomas and Margaret Jean (Foley) Morton.

Young met future husband Neil Young in 1974 when she was working as a waitress at a diner near his ranch, a story he tells in the 1992 song "Unknown Legend". They married in August 1978 and had two children, Ben and Amber, in addition to her becoming stepmother to his first child, Zeke. and Amber with epilepsy. In July 2014, Neil filed for divorce in California.

Young died of cancer on January 1, 2019, aged 66, in Mountain View, California.

Discography

  • 2007 – Pegi Young
  • 2010 – Foul Deeds
  • 2012 – Bracing for Impact (with The Survivors)
  • 2014 – Lonely in a Crowded Room (with The Survivors)
  • 2016 – Raw (with The Survivors)

Awards

  • Induction into the San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame, 1995
  • Co-honored with Neil Young for their work with the Bridge School by Rock the Vote, 1999

References

References

  1. Ferguson, John. (March 17, 2013). "At 60, Pegi Young Is Just Tuning Up". [[LNP (newspaper).
  2. Staff writers. (November 14, 2012). "Pegi Young Braces For Impact". [[The Austin Chronicle]].
  3. (June 21, 2010). "Foul Deeds". [[Amazon (company).
  4. "The Bridge School – History". [[Bridge School (California).
  5. Stern, Kenneth A.. "Is Cerebral Palsy Genetic, Congenital, or Acquired?". Stern Law, PLLC.
  6. Gonulsen, Jason. (September 10, 2007). "Pegi Young Unknown Legend". Glide Magazine.
  7. MTV News Staff. (February 24, 1999). "Wyclef Jean, Neil Young, Beck, Stevie Wonder, George Clinton Celebrate 1999 Rock The Vote! Awards". [[MTV News]].
  8. Giles, Jeff. (October 16, 2012). "2012 Bridge School Benefit Concert to be Available as Online Pay-Per-View". [[Townsquare Media#Web publications and services.
  9. "Bridge School Today". [[Bridge School (California).
  10. Knapp, Krystal. (August 3, 2009). "A.R.T. provides creative tools for disabled". Artistic Realization Technologies.
  11. (March 11, 2004). "Rock Star Gives VIP Treatment to Hampshire College Student Inventors". Collegenews.org.
  12. (February 4, 2004). "Helping Organizations Make their Communications Available to the Disabled". [[W. K. Kellogg Foundation]].
  13. Staff writers. (July 9, 2012). "Farm Aid Coming to Hershey, PA". [[CMT (U.S. TV channel).
  14. "Sugar Mountain Neil Young Set Lists". Sugarmtn.org.
  15. Ferguson, Cat. (June 5, 2013). "Old smartphones called in to save Indonesian forests". [[New Scientist]].
  16. Grenoble, Ryan. (June 11, 2013). "'Rainforest Connection' Aims To Use Cell Phones To Stop Deforestation". [[HuffPost]].
  17. Lewis, Randy. (August 27, 2014). "Neil Young, wife Pegi divorcing; she was inspiration for many songs". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  18. Sandomir, Richard. (January 4, 2019). "Pegi Young, 66, Musician Who Started a School for Disabled, Dies". [[The New York Times]].
  19. Reges, Margaret. "Pegi Young Biography". [[AllMusic.com]].
  20. D'Zurilla, Christie. (August 27, 2014). "Neil Young files for divorce from Pegi Young after 36-year marriage". [[Chicago Tribune]].
  21. "Neil Young: Singer, Guitarist, Songwriter, Engineer, Philanthropist, Environmental Activist (1945–)". [[A&E Networks]].
  22. Forani, Jonathan. (August 26, 2014). "Neil Young to divorce wife of 36 years". [[Toronto Star]].
  23. Graff, Gary. (January 2, 2019). "Pegi Young, Musician & Former Wife of Neil Young, Dies at 66".
  24. "Ten nominees for Women's Hall of Fame". sfgate.com.
  25. "Neil Receives Patrick Lippert Award from the Rock The Vote Organization". Hyperrust.org.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

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