'80s Starlet Daryl Hannah & Neil Young's Sizeable Age Gap Has Drawn Attention

Plenty of fans were surprised to find out about Neil Young's marriage to actor Daryl Hannah. Partly because it seemed an odd pairing due to their age gap and other dissimilarities, and partly because of the timing. In August 2014, news broke that the "Old Man" singer was getting divorced from his wife of 36 years, Pegi Young. The following month, Neil's love life was in the headlines again when it was discovered that he was romantically involved with Hannah, and that it was not a new development. "They've been dating for months," a source told People in September 2014. Apparently, the singer was quite smitten with the "Splash" star, who is 15 years his junior. "They've taken no effort to even hide it. He recorded a new album a few weeks ago, and she was on Skype the entire time," the insider said, adding that Neil already referred to Hannah as his "girlfriend." The couple reportedly bonded over their shared interest in environmental activism.

Four years later, Neil tied the knot with Hannah in a private yacht wedding in San Luis Obispo. They had a guest list of only 100 people, and the newlyweds wanted to keep the nuptials under wraps. "Everyone will be asked to leave their phones and cameras at the hotel," a note from the wedding planner read, per Page Six. Neil didn't even confirm his August 2018 marriage to Hannah until several months later.

As a result of the secrecy, some fans didn't find out about the marriage until much later. Some discussed how mismatched the couple seemed. "FYI he's 74 and she's 59," one Redditor wrote in April 2020 about the age disparity. "One is a true artist one is a hollywood type," another commented. Even some of Neil's closest friends expressed his misgivings about the pairing.

Following the news that Neil Young was divorcing Pegi Young, the singer's long-time collaborator David Crosby made it clear that he disapproved of his friend's new relationship. During an interview with the Idaho Statesman in September 2014, Crosby went scorched earth on Hannah. "I happen to know that [Neil] is hanging out with somebody that's a purely poisonous predator now," he told the outlet, via People. Crosby also seemingly alluded to their age difference and Hannah's movie star good looks. "And that's karma. He's gonna get hurt. But I understand why it happened," he added. The following year, Crosby walked back his statement, but fell well short of offering an apology for his harsh words about the "Kill Bill" actor. "I'm screwed up way worse than that girl," he said on "The Howard Stern Show" in May 2015 (via CBC). "She's making Neil happy. I love Neil and I want him happy," Crosby added. It seemed Crosby had some issues with how Neil's previous marriage ended.

The truth about Neil's divorce from Pegi Young is that it came as a surprise to both the public and Pegi herself. "We were having a rough patch. But I never would've thought in a million years we would be getting divorced," Pegi told Rolling Stone in a November 2016 interview that wasn't exactly flattering to her ex. "So, yeah, there was a bit of a shock value there," she added.

A couple of years later, Neil addressed the backlash he and Hannah had received. "We didn't pay any attention to that. It doesn't matter. We don't give a s***," he told Yahoo! Entertainment in a joint interview with Hannah in March 2018.