Jesse Colin Young — a noted singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and folk-rock & Americana pioneer who co-founded and fronted The Youngbloods — passed away in Aiken, South Carolina on March 16, 2025 at age 83.
Young — who cited folksinger Pete Seeger and country blues artists Mississippi John Hurt and Lightnin’ Hopkins among his influences — formed The Youngbloods in the 1960s along with Jerry Corbitt (guitar, vocals) Lowell “Banana” Levinger (guitar, keyboards) and Joe Bauer (drums). The group drew international fame for its recording of “Get Together,” which was used in a public service commercial by the National Council of Christians and Jews and became an anthem for the civil rights movement.
After The Youngbloods disbanded in 1972 following the November release of its final album, High on a Ridge Top, Young –- who was born Perry Miller on November 22, 1941 in Queens, New York and adopted his stage name in the early 1960s after leaving college to become a full-time musician — resumed a solo career. Then living in California’s San Francisco Bay Area, he released a number of critically acclaimed albums for Warner Brothers Records. Among them were Together (1972), Song for Juli (1973, which remained on the Billboard 200 for nearly a year), Light Shine (1974), Songbird (1975), On the Road (1976 live album), and Love on the Wing (1977). He signed with Elektra Records in 1978, releasing American Dreams that year and The Perfect Stranger (featuring collaborations with Carly Simon and Michael McDonald) in 1982. The Highway for Heroes, his 1987 recording for Cypress Records was not as commercially successful. He and his wife Connie launched their own label, Ridgetop Music, out of their own home in Inverness, California in 1993 — both to re-release his 1970s catalog on CD as well as some new music — Makin’ It Real (1993), Swept Away (1994, featuring solo slack-key acoustic songs), and Crazy Boy (1995 compilation album).
After a forest fire destroyed their house in October 1995, Young, his wife and their two children re-located to a coffee plantation in Hawaii that he had purchased years earlier. His son Cheyanne Young, godson Ethan Turner, and former Youngbloods partner Lowell “Banana” Levinger joined Young on the album Walk the Talk (2001). That was followed by Songs for Christmas (2002) and the Hawaii-influenced album Living In Paradise on Artemis Records (2004). Young and his family moved to Aiken, South Carolina – Connie’s hometown – in 2006.
A prolific songwriter – whose songs often focused on themes of environmental awareness, peace, unity and social justice – Young was also an activist who was committed to making the world a better place. Among other things, he joined such notable artists as Jackson Browne, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Bonnie Raitt, and James Taylor and Crosby, Stills & Nash in performing as part of a number of No Nukes concerts in the late 1970s organized by Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE). Other artists have also covered several of his songs. These include “Darkness, Darkness,” which Robert Plant recorded in 2002 and for which he received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance and “Sunlight,” which Three Dog Night included on its 1970 release Naturally. Both songs previously appeared on The Youngbloods third album, Elephant Mountain (1969), which was produced by Charlie Daniels.
Although he experienced chronic Lyme disease and other health challenges in his later years, after taking a hiatus of a few years following the Lyme disease diagnosis in 2012, Young continued to perform and record until 2023. His last releases were Dreamers (2019) and Highway Troubadour (2020), both on BMG. Dreamers features topical songs on immigration and the #Me-too movement, among others, while Highway Troubadour is a solo acoustic live in-studio recording whose 11 tracks include two songs from Dreamers and reworked arrangements of a number of his classics. Although Young continued to perform live into 2023, Highway Troubadour was his final recording.
During his later years, Young also launched a podcast series called Tripping On My Roots featuring interviews, musical performances, collaborations with some of his musical peers, and lots of storytelling. He also released a series of videos called One Song at a time featuring him performing songs that spanned his entire career, while accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. Episodes of his podcast may be found on his website, jessecolinyoung.com.
Jesse Colin Young leaves behind family, friends, a legion of fans, and a vast catalog of songs and recordings.
Like/Follow Us!