I have never thought of Neil Young as a Folk singer. I think he is truly one of the giants of popular music. He has written icon song, Old Man, Cinnamon His version of all along the Watchtower is much better than Jimmie Hendricks' version.
   He has been writing about the environment for years, has written great political songs ,but what I admire most about him is that he was never afraid to change, to take musical and commercial risks. His album "Trans" takes him into the world of techno pop, fans hated it at the time, but it is now considered one of his best.
But , to reiterarte, I never thought of him as a folk artists.