Dreamer of Pictures Neil Young the Man

Along with Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Van Morrison, Neil Young is one of the handful of 1960s rock musicians who have survived, retained the respect of a large public and gained the allegiance of a new generation. Today, at 46, he continues to pack huge venues and sell millions of critically acclaimed albums. His most recent, "Unplugged" has spent weeks in the Billboard album charts. Young's ability to combine commercial success with an almost wilful experimentation has made him one of the key figures in taking rock music beyond its generational boundaries, and establishing it as a musical form in its own right. A Canadian, Young is a star despite his aversion to stardom, self-indulgent in terms of his own mad sense of humour, and prone to melancholia. A childhood suffer from polio and an epileptic, he is the father of two disabled children. Musically, Young is a rare breed. A gifted singer-songwriter in the folk-rock tradition and an electric guitarist in the realm of pure rock, he is unrivalled as an all-rounder. Presley was his teenage hero, Dylan the man who inspired his performances in the Toronto clubs, and the Stones a model for his work with Crazy Horse. Young's music has been associated with a wide melange of styles - from R & B to country, from folk rock to heavy-metal grunge - but whatever the form, his music has always come from the heart, and has reaffirmed its power and importance.