Neil Young

Neil Young has followed two paths for more than five decades, switching between them at will. One is gentle and fragile: high, quavering vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica on records like After the Gold Rush and Harvest, whose 'Heart of Gold' became his only US number one.

The other is loud and ragged, with Crazy Horse grinding out long, distorted jams on Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Zuma and Rust Never Sleeps, the noise that later earned him the title 'Godfather of Grunge'. In between came the bleak 'Ditch Trilogy', including Tonight's the Night and On the Beach, and detours into electronics and rockabilly.