Donald Trump’s administration nearly barred music legend Neil Young from becoming a U.S. citizen, according to Young’s wife, Daryl Hannah.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee has historically criticized Trump and even sued him in 2020 for using his song “Rockin’ In the Free World” at campaign rallies.
Now, Hannah revealed that her husband was harassed while trying to get his U.S. citizenship during the first Trump administration.
“They tried every trick in the book to mess him up, and made him keep coming back to be re-interviewed and re-interviewed,” Hannah told BBC. “It’s ridiculous [because] he’s been living in America and paying taxes here since he was in his 20s.”
Young, who holds dual Canadian-American citizenship, is touring across the U.S. this summer. The musician recently expressed concerns that he could be barred from the U.S. following an increase of detainees and deportations.
“When I go to play music in Europe, if I talk about Donald J. Trump, I may be one of those returning to America who is barred or put in jail to sleep on a cement floor with an aluminium blanket,” he recently wrote on his website, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“That’s right folks, if you say anything bad about Trump or his administration, you may be barred from re-entering USA,” Young wrote.
However, Hannah believes Young should be able to enter the country without any issues.
“They’ve been detaining people who have green cards or visas — which is hideous and horrifying — but they have not, so far, been refusing to let American citizens back in the country, so I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she told the BBC.
Before coming to the States, Young will headline Glastonbury on Saturday, June 28. The rock legend previously accused music festival of being under the “corporate control” of the BBC, but has since told fans that he was misinformed.
“Due to an error in the information received, I had decided to not play the Glastonbury festival, which I always have loved,“ Young wrote in a post on his website. ”Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see you there!”
Young also has a new documentary that will be theatrically released worldwide on April 17 called “Neil Young: Coastal.” The documentary follows Young on his 2023 solo tour of the West Coast, according to a press release on his website.
