All About Neil Young's 3 Children, Zeke, Ben and Amber

Neil Young first became a dad in 1972 with the birth of his son, Zeke

NEED TO KNOW

• Neil Young has three children: Zeke, Ben and Amber
• His oldest child, Zeke, was born in 1972
• Neil later welcomed Ben and Amber with his second wife, Pegi Young

Neil Young is known for his legendary music career, but he also takes great pride in another role: being a dad.

The "Heart of Gold" singer, who is married to actress Daryl Hannah, is the father of three children — sons Zeke and Ben and daughter Amber.

Neil first became a dad in 1972 when he welcomed Zeke with actress Carrie Snodgress. The couple discovered early on that Zeke had cerebral palsy, a disorder caused by abnormal brain development or injury to the brain that affects a person's ability to move and maintain balance and posture, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Neil and Snodgress split in 1975, and the musician started a relationship with singer Pegi Young, whom he married in 1978. When their first child, Ben, was born that same year, he was also diagnosed with cerebral palsy. As Neil told Rolling Stone in June 1988, “The doctors said, 'There’s no connection between [Zeke and Ben’s conditions] at all. It’s a fluke that both have cerebral palsy.' ”

Becoming a father to two children with a degenerative disease changed Neil’s priorities. “I became much more involved in family, taking care of the family, making sure the family was secure,” he told the outlet.

Neil and Pegi welcomed another child, daughter Amber Jean, in 1984, before splitting in 2014. Four years later, he and Hannah tied the knot.

Here's everything to know about Neil Young’s three kids: Zeke, Ben and Amber.

Zeke Young, 53

Neil and Snodgress welcomed Zeke on Sept. 8, 1972.

The performer opened up about his son’s birth in his 2012 book, Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream. “He was a beautiful baby boy,” Neil wrote.

According to the singer, he and Snodgress noticed early on that Zeke’s right foot “seemed extended and he could not straighten out his ankle.”

“His right hand was also held in a different position from his left, and he did not have the same control of it,” Neil wrote in the book.

Though Neil and Snodgress got Zeke a brace, Neil said it made things difficult for his son socially. “He started to get picked on by the other kids,” he wrote. “This was the beginning of a rough time for him, and he began to lash out … and had a lot of anger that he was expressing.”

Zeke was eventually diagnosed with what Neil told Rolling Stone was “very mild cerebral palsy” after experiencing a grand mal seizure. Neil and Snodgress broke up around the same period in 1975, and Zeke split his time between his mother's and father’s households.

Later on, according to Neil, Zeke began to thrive at the Morning Sky School in Mountain Center, Calif. “Zeke came out of there a changed man,” he wrote.

Neil's older son also began to work: In addition to sound department credits on films such as Sometimes They Come Back … Again and Terminal Justice, Zeke worked at Home Depot as of 2012, according to The New York Times.

In April 2004, Snodgress died of heart failure at the age of 57 while waiting for a liver transplant. According to Today, Zeke was by his mother’s side at the time of her death.

By 2012, Neil and Zeke had grown “very close.” He wrote: “When I look at him, I admire him for the wonderful man he has grown up to be, handling himself so beautifully, and I feel very proud."

Ben Young

Neil and his then-wife Pegi welcomed son Ben in 1978.

Unlike his big brother, who has a milder form of cerebral palsy, Ben was born with what Neil told Rolling Stone is “severe cerebral palsy.”

The rocker emphasized that Ben was a “wonderful little human being” from early on. “His soul is there, and I’m sure that he has an outlook on the world that we don’t have because of the disabilities,” he said.

In 1986, Ben’s struggles in his learning program inspired Neil and Pegi to open The Bridge School, which teaches students with severe disabilities to communicate better.

Ben’s communication style inspired several of Neil’s songs. “If you listen to Trans, if you listen to the words to ‘Transformer Man’ and ‘Computer Age’ and ‘We R in Control,’ you’ll hear a lot of references to my son and to people trying to live a life by pressing buttons … and talking with people who can’t talk,” he told American Songwriter in April 2024.

Ben graduated from Half Moon Bay High School in 1998. One year later, he started a chicken farm on his family’s ranch, per SFGate.

The farm was certified organic in 2002. Ten years later, Ben was raising about 250 chickens and selling their eggs by the thousands. "I have a hand in every part of the business," he told SFGate, noting that his disability was the most challenging part. “It takes more time to do things, and some people think I don't understand them. The help of good friends … gets me through any obstacles.”

Ben also faithfully accompanied his father on tour for many years as his confidant. “He’s our spiritual leader in that way,” Neil told The New York Times in September 2012. “We take him everywhere.” Neil added: “I tell Ben everything, and he listens. He knows everything.”

In 2018, the father and son hit the red carpet together with Neil’s wife, Hannah, for the premiere of the couple’s film, Paradox. According to Neil, Ben has taught him to “have faith and belief and inner strength and to never give up.”

“Just by himself,” he told Esquire in June 2023. “By being a gift to us.”

Amber Jean Young, 41

Neil and Pegi waited six years before having their second child together, Amber Jean Young, on May 15, 1984.

According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, like her father, Amber has epilepsy, a neurological disorder that causes unprovoked, recurring seizures.

Weeks after Amber’s birth, Neil began playing a tribute song to her in his concerts titled “Amber Jean” that included the lyrics, “Amber Jean, oh Amber Jean, prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen.” (The track was later included in 2011’s live album, A Treasure.)

Neil opened up about his only daughter to Rolling Stone in 1988, saying, “My third child, Amber, is just a little flower, growing like a little flower should.”

According to the California-based artist, her early days, which were spent on Broken Arrow Ranch near Kings Mountain, Calif., were filled with art. “I took art classes in preschool and that started me on a path that I never diverged from,” she told Palo Alto Online in April 2022.

After attending high school in San Francisco, Amber attended Kenyon College in Ohio before earning her master’s degree at the San Francisco Art Institute, where she studied painting.

Neil and Pegi were extremely supportive of their daughter, featuring her work on both of their album covers and jackets, per Amber's website. “Not a lot of people get the level of encouragement I received,” she told Palo Alto Online.

At first, she worked with mixed media, including textiles and quilts. “My mother was an avid collector of textiles, including Navajo weaving, baskets, Persian rugs and lace,” Amber told Palo Alto Online. Her art underwent a transformation after Pegi died of ovarian cancer in January 2019.

In March 2022, Amber held a month-long solo painting exhibit at Bryant Street Gallery in Palo Alto, Calif., titled “Pegi’s Garden” in honor of her late mother. The exhibit raised more than $14,000 for the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA).

In addition to her art, Amber has a support system in her family: Pegi and Neil were present when she married investment banker Rajib Chowdhury in San Francisco in 2013, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Amber and Chowdhury later welcomed two children together, Ronan and Aliyah.

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