Born in Newnan, Georgia, United States,[2] he grew up in Texas and Gadsden, Alabama, moving from place to place as his family looked for work.[3] By the time he graduated high school, he was writing and playing songs that incorporated folk, blues, country, and gospel influences he absorbed while travelling throughout the South. In the late 1960s, he worked with Van Dyke Parks and was member of the psychedelic country band Stone Country.[2]
In 1984, Young charted the single "It's Not Supposed to Be That Way" on RCA Records.[2] It peaked at No. 84 on Hot Country Songs.[5] In 1989, Young did a mini-tour in the Northwest with singer-songwriter Tim Otto, performing in Portland and Seattle. In 1991, Otto took the cover shot for Steve Young's Solo/Live CD on Watermelon Records. Townes Van Zandt wrote the liner notes. The 1996 concert recording by Van Dyke Parks entitled Moonlighting: Live at the Ash Grove (released in 1998) was headlined by Young, although he did not appear on the recordings.
In 1993, Young played a show in Lichtenvoorde, The Netherlands, with David Olney. This show then was recorded by SCR Productions. Olney's track were released on his Live in Holland album in 1994. In 2019, an album of Young's tracks was released, also titled Live in Holland. David Olney took care of the liner notes, and performed on a few tracks on harmonica.
Young suffered a head injury in an October 2015 fall and his health began to deteriorate. He died after a brief stay in a Nashville, Tennessee hospice, on March 17, 2016. He was 73.[6][7]
