Neil Young performs ‘After The Gold Rush’ and ‘Heart Of Gold’ at surprise 2026 benefit show

Neil Young  performed solo versions of ‘After The Gold Rush’ and ‘Heart Of Gold’ at his first live appearance of 2026 – watch below.

- READ MORE: Neil Young live at Glastonbury 2025: a no frills set that proves that sometimes, the old ways are the best

The music icon made the unusual move of  cancelling all of his 2026 tour dates earlier this year , including an entire UK and European tour, saying it was “not the time” to be playing shows.

He later  clarified to a worried fan that “all is good” and that he “just needed a break”  and was “listening to my body”, and last night (May 22), he made a surprise appearance during a benefit concert for his friend David Suzuki in Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

Canadian environmentalist Suzuki was celebrating his 90th birthday at a show that also featured Jane Fonda, Al Gore and Sarah McLachlan, and Young showed up for his first live performance of the year.

He stood along in front of the crowd to strum a passionate version of ‘Heart Of Gold’, before taking a seat at the piano for a heart-wrenchingly beautiful rendition of ‘After The Gold Rush’, with added harmonica.

Watch footage of both performances here:

> View this post on Instagram

> View this post on Instagram

In other news,  Young has said his new album with The Chrome Hearts is now finished , and it reportedly includes three finished versions of songs that he wrote 63 years ago.

He had previously  revealed that he was channelling his anger at the Trump administration into the new album . “Politics today is sad and depressing for me. I can’t do it anymore. I can go out and demonstrate my feelings about it. We have the worst president in the history of our country. Every day a bad TV show produced by DJT is what we get,” he wrote.

In addition, he shared a  song criticising Trump called ‘Big Crime’  earlier in the year, and he also  told his fans earlier this year that Trump was “out of control” and “we need a real president”.

The Chrome Hearts, meanwhile,  have seen the trademark infringement lawsuit brought against them by the fashion brand Chrome Hearts dropped .

The post Watch Neil Young perform ‘After The Gold Rush’ and ‘Heart Of Gold’ in surprise first show of 2026 appeared first on NME .

_Originally reported by [NME](https://www.nme.com/news/music/watch-neil-young-perform-after-the-gold-rush-and-heart-of-gold-in-surprise-first-show-of-2026-3947089?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watch-neil-young-perform-after-the-gold-rush-and-heart-of-gold-in-surprise-first-show-of-2026)._