Neil Young has expressed that he’s unsure if he’ll be able to return to the United States after criticising President Donald Trump – see what he had to say below.
In a few short months, Young is set to return to the UK and Europe as part of his ‘Love Earth’ world tour with the Chrome Hearts. This includes a bill-topping set at Glastonbury Festival in late June, and a headline slot at BST Hyde Park the following month. In August, he’s due to return to the US for a run of North American tour dates.
However, the Canadian folk legend is now questioning if he’ll be able to re-enter the United States when the European tour wraps, due to his many criticisms of President. This comes after the Trump administration has deported and detained several immigrants over their political views, including pro-Palestine activists, as well as those backing Ukraine over Russia.
Young wrote on his Neil Young Archives blog on April 1: “When I go to play music in Europe, if I talk about Donald J. Trump, I may be one of those returning to America who is barred or put in jail to sleep on a cement floor with an aluminium blanket. That is happening all the time now. Countries have new advice for those returning to America… If I come back from Europe and am barred, can’t play my USA tour, all of the folks who bought tickets will not be able to come to a concert by me.”
He continued: “That’s right folks, if you say anything bad about Trump or his administration, you may be barred from re-entering USA. If you are Canadian, if you are a dual citizen like me, who knows? We’ll all find that out together.”
“If the fact that I think Donald Trump is the worst president in the history from our great country could stop me from coming back, what does that say for freedom?…Remember freedom of speech? By these latest actions of our US government, it seems that those who speak out freely with their own opinions are now vulnerable to a non-existent Trump law. Then it seems to me that if you voted for Kamala Harris over Trump, that makes it possible for you to go to jail or be detained, punished in some way for not showing allegiance to what?”
Young has in the past been extremely critical of President Trump. In 2020 he filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Trump over his usage of his song ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’, and shared multiple open letters on his website condemning the former President’s continued unauthorised use of his music. Last year, he granted Kamala Harris’s running mate Tim Walz permission to use the song in his own campaign to be Vice President.
For Young’s headline slot at BST Hyde Park this summer, he’ll be joined by Yusuf/Cat Stevens and Van Morrison, with further support acts to be confirmed at a later date. Visit here for tickets.
As well as the live shows, Young recently released his first track with his live band The Chrome Hearts, ‘Big Change’. He has since given an update on his debut album with the group, explaining that he hoped to release it in April ahead of a summer tour.
“It is in mastering now to make the vinyl, CD and digital copies,” Neil Young wrote. “I am very happy and relieved to have this done in the short time it took. The album art has been completed and handed in with Jenice Heo. I am working on the lyric sheets now, hoping to hand-write the words and get them in, in time…”
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