Neil Young shares tribute to late ex-wife Pegi Young with lyrics from Harvest Moon song
Musician Neil Young posted a touching tribute to his ex-wife Pegi Young who died on New Year's Day after a battle with cancer.
"Thanks Pegi, for being such a wonderful mother to our children," Neil wrote in a message on his official website dedicated to his music archives. "You live inside of them and the many you have touched."
In his first public statement since Pegi's death, the 72-year-old musician also included lyrics to his Harvest Moon track "Such a Woman," one of the many songs written about his former wife.
"You are such a woman to me / And I love you / Our love will live / Until the end of time," Young wrote in the 1992 song. "No one else can kill me like you do / No one else can fill me like you do / And no, no one else can feel our pain / Love is a healer / And I love you."
ALSO: Neil Young reveals he and Daryl Hannah are married
Before divorcing in 2014, Neil and Pegi were married for 36 years and lived together in the Bay Area for many years.
Pegi and Neil helped found the Bridge School for children with speech and physical impairments.
Pegi first conceived of the California-based school in 1986 after she and her then-husband struggled to educate their son Ben, born with cerebral palsy. Over the next three decades, the Youngs helped stage all-star concert benefits, with guest performers including Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Tom Petty.
The Youngs had been one of rock's most enduring couples. They met in 1974, when Pegi was living in a teepee, and married four years later. Neil Young's 1992 country-rock ballad, "Harvest Moon," is a tribute to Pegi.
Neil has been in a relationship with "Splash" actress Daryl Hannah, 57, since 2014, and last summer rumors began circulating the couple tied the knot. Neil confirmed the news publicly in November.
Pegi addressed her divorce candidly in her 2016 album "Raw," which also led to a rift between Neil Young and former bandmate David Crosby. After Young began dating actress Daryl Hannah, Crosby called her a "purely poisonous predator." Crosby later apologized, but Young was enraged and has not played with Crosby since.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Amy Graff is the news editor for SFGATE. She's a Bay Area native and got her start in news at the Daily Californian newspaper at UC Berkeley where she majored in English literature. She has been with SFGATE for 12 years. You can email her at agraff@sfgate.com.
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