Neil Young has announced that he’s giving every resident of Greenland a free year of access to his entire music catalog, including live performances, concert films, and outtakes, on neilyoungarchives.com as a supposed act of “Peace and Love” to help them cope with the “unwarranted stress and threats” from President Trump’s interest in acquiring the territory. The 80-year-old singer-songwriter’s move has sparked sharp conservative backlash, with critics slamming it as delusional self-importance from a fading leftist activist who thinks his songs can somehow derail U.S. strategic interests.
Body: Young posted the offer on his website, writing: “I’m honored to give a free year’s access to neilyoungarchives.com to all of our friends in Greenland. I hope my Music and Music Films will ease some of the unwarranted stress and threats you are experiencing from our unpopular and hopefully temporary government. It is my sincere wish for you to be able to enjoy all of my music in your beautiful Greenland home, in its highest quality. This is an offer of Peace and Love.” He added that the offer can be renewed for free as long as users are in Greenland and hoped other organizations would follow his example.
The gesture comes amid ongoing speculation about U.S. interest in Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly described as a strategic national-security and economic priority due to its rare-earth minerals, Arctic position, and defense value. Young framed his music giveaway as a direct counter to that possibility, implying his catalog could somehow soothe Greenlanders and undermine Trump’s agenda.
Conservatives have ridiculed the announcement as the height of celebrity narcissism, an aging rocker convinced his 62-year discography is so powerful it can serve as diplomatic resistance against a sitting U.S. president. Many pointed out the irony: Young refuses to let his music appear on Amazon because Jeff Bezos has been friendly toward Trump, yet he’s now force-feeding it to an entire population that didn’t ask for it. Critics drew parallels to U2’s infamous 2014 “Songs of Innocence” auto-upload to 500 million iTunes accounts, calling it another case of an artist shoving unwanted music into people’s faces and expecting gratitude.
At 80, Young’s anti-Trump obsession, most recently seen in his 2025 song “Big Crime,” where he calls the president a fascist—has become a tired routine for many. Conservatives argue he’s desperately trying to stay relevant by recycling the same anti-Trump message that’s been rammed down throats for a decade, forgetting that most Americans have moved on.
Whether Greenland residents will suddenly rally against U.S. interests after hearing “Harvest Moon” for free remains to be seen. For now, the stunt looks like little more than an elderly leftist’s latest attempt to insert himself into geopolitics, proving once again that some celebrities truly believe their art can change the world, even if no one asked them to try.
