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Neil Young to headline Big Day Out

Posted September 2, 2008 12:12:00
Updated September 2, 2008 12:38:00

Young will also play a few solo gigs.

Young will also play a few solo gigs. (Getty Images: Simone Joyner, file photo)

The organisers of the Big Day Out (BDO) have confirmed that Neil Young will be headlining the music festival next January.

BDO director Ken West says the Canadian rock legend will also be performing solo shows in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne for people who would prefer to enjoy his music in a comfy chair.

"He is an amazing talent who's never been in a festival mode in Australia before so it gives an opportunity for a lot of younger people who might not really necessarily have the money to experiment with the entertainment-theatre kind of show to see it," he said.

Young, 62, is a veteran musician who rose to fame in the 1960s with the band Buffalo Springfield and later became a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, whose 1970 release Deja Vu has become a classic rock album.

The singer/songwriter, whose solo work ranges from older albums such as Harvest to newer CDs like Living with War, has long been an activist for social and anti-war causes.

Young - who had a spider named after him earlier this year - survived a brain aneurism three years ago.

Tags: arts-and-entertainment, entertainment-events, carnivals-and-festivals, music, bands-and-artists, human-interest, people, australia

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