Pegi Young

Margaret "Pegi" Young (née Morton; December 1, 1952 – January 1, 2019)[2] was an American singer-songwriter, environmentalist, educator and philanthropist. Her debut as a singer came in 1983 when she was a member of The Pinkettes, the backing vocalists of Neil Young's Rock-a Billy Shocking Pinks tour. In 1994 she made her first nationwide TV appearance at the Academy Awards, singing backup on the song "Philadelphia", composed by her husband. Read more on Last.fm …read full bio

Margaret "Pegi" Young (née Morton; December 1, 1952 – January 1, 2019)[2] was an American singer-songwriter, environmentalist, educator and philanthropist. Her debut as a singer came in 1983 when she was a member of The Pinkettes, the backing vocalists of Neil Young's Rock-a Billy Shocking Pinks tour. In 1994 she made her first nationwide TV appearance at the Academy Awards, singing backup on the song "Philadelphia", composed by her husband. In 2000, the San Mateo, California-born Young joined her then husband on 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. Since then, she has created two additional albums, Foul Deeds (2010), and Bracing for Impact (2011). She toured and performed with her band The Survivors, which includes Spooner Oldham on piano, Rick Rosas on bass, Kelvin Holly on guitar and drummer Phil Jones. In 1986, Pegi Young founded the Bridge School, an educational program aimed at serving the needs of children with severe physical and speech impairments. Young was inspired to create the school based on her experiences with her son Ben, who was born with cerebral palsy, a congenital condition Cerebral Palsy is not a hereditary condition, but researchers have discovered that hereditary factors can predispose an individual to Cerebral Palsy - http://www.cerebralpalsy.org/about-cerebral-palsy/cause/when - which, for Ben, resulted in severe speech difficulties and motor impairment. Pegi and her ex-husband have said they searched for educational institutions tailored for children with physical and learning impairments like Ben, but were frustrated to find that none really existed. Young founded the school with additional help from Jim Forderer, a fellow parent of a child with specialized educational needs, and Dr. Marilyn Buzolich. Pegi and Neil raised awareness for their newly founded school with their Bridge School Benefit Concert, which has continued annually to this day and has brought in musicians such as Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, Tony Bennett, Lucinda Williams, and Jack White. Since 1986, The Bridge School has continued to grow and evolve organically into an internationally recognized organization. Graduates from The Bridge School have often returned to their home school districts and continued their education once their rudimentary 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. She also has continued to organize and host the Bridge School Benefit concert every year since its 1986 debut. Young serves 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 and on the Advisory Council for Lemelson Assistive Technology and Design Center on the campus of Hampshire College. 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. Young has 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 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[28] and had two children, Ben and Amber, in addition to her becoming stepmother to his first child, Zeke. Both Ben and Zeke are diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and Amber with epilepsy. In July 2014, Neil filed for divorce in California. Young died of cancer on January 1, 2019, aged 66. Awards Induction into the San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame, 1995 Co-honored with Neil for their work with the Bridge School by “Rock the Vote”, 1999 Honored with the FRED Conference's Pioneer Award for her work with the Bridge School and as an advocate for special needs issues, 2013 Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

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…shrink me down again