Bob Dylan and Neil Young both ‘very flighty’ when touring, ex-manager says

Bob Dylan and Neil Young have the same habits when touring, their former manager has claimed.

Dylan and Young are veteran touring musicians who have shared the stage together a handful of times. Dylan has recently wrapped his Spring 2026 tour and will be performing across North America this summer. Young, who performed a series of shows in Europe and North America in 2025, cancelled a return trip to the UK for 2026. Between them, the pair have performed thousands of shows across the world and, in Dylan’s case, he shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. But the pair share some odd on-the-road habits, according to ex-manager Elliot Roberts. Speaking to Shakey biographer Jimmy McDonough, Roberts shared his thoughts on what made the pair so similar.

Roberts, who has managed both Dylan and Young, said: “They’re both very flighty. They have the exact same road habits, they prep the same way. They’re very, very similar in what satisfies them – good shows, bad shows. There’s some huge dissimilarities. Bob likes to have his families in place and go to them. He’s on the move, doesn’t like to stay in one place long. Neil will stay in one place forever, given the opportunity.

Richard Fernandez, a tour manager who worked for both men, added: “Neil’s eccentric with a purpose – Bob’s eccentric with a purpose, but I’m not quite sure what that purpose is, and the only person who knows what that purpose is may be Bob. Everybody else is speculating.”

Young had high praise for Dylan too, once saying he wishes he could be the Mr. Tambourine Man songwriter. Young said: “He’s the master. If I’d like to be anyone, it’s him.

“And he’s a great writer, true to his music and done what he feels is the right thing to do for years and years and years. The guy has written some of the greatest poetry and put it to music in a way that it touched me, and other people have done that, but not so consistently or as intensely.”

But not all their work would delight, with Dylan criticising a song by Young, which he believes is a pale imitation of his sound. He said: “The only time it bothered me that someone sounded like me was when I was living in Phoenix, Arizona, in about ’72 and the big song at the time was Heart of Gold.

“I used to hate it when it came on the radio. I always liked Neil Young, but it bothered me every time I listened to Heart of Gold. I think it was up at number one for a long time, and I’d say, ‘Shit, that’s me. If it sounds like me, it should as well be me.’ There I was, stuck on the desert someplace, having to cool out for a while. New York was a heavy place.

“Woodstock was worse, people living in trees outside my house, fans trying to batter down my door, cars following me up dark mountain roads. I needed to lay back for a while, forget about things, myself included, and I’d get so far away and turn on the radio, and there I am, but it’s not me. It seemed to me somebody else had taken my thing and had run away with it, you know, and I never got over it. Maybe tomorrow.”