David Crosby

Crosby was a prominent figure of the free-spirited 1970s Laurel Canyon scene who helped bring folk-rock mainstream with both The Byrds and Crosby, ...

Years of well-documented substance abuse led to tumultuous relationships in and out of music, multiple arrests and a nine-month stint in a Texas prison in the '80s. His songwriting contributions also pushed the band in new directions — in particular, the rhythmic cadences of "Déjà Vu" and the loose arrangements and boho instrumental tone of "Wooden Ships." But in later years, it made him a natural for the concise and quippy nature of Twitter. Its self-titled 1969 debut led to an performance at Woodstock and a Grammy for best new artist, while 1970's Déjà Vu — by which point Neil Young had joined, adding another letter to the band's name — touched on both the comforts of tradition and the seismic generational shifts that were underway. His older brother, Ethan, introduced him to jazz, a genre he would touch on throughout his career, including with his late '90s / early '00s band CPR and on a ruminative 2017 solo album, Sky Trails. and [Bob Dylan](https://www.npr.org/artists/15193203/bob-dylan)'s "Mr. At loose ends, he immersed himself in sailing, one of his childhood passions, buying a schooner for $25,000 with money borrowed from The Monkees' Peter Tork. He added five solo albums to his catalog between 2014 and 2021, and toured frequently with two sets of collaborators, the Lighthouse Band (which featured "The idea of cooperative effort to make something bigger than any one person could ever do was stuck in my head," he wrote in his 1988 autobiography, Long Time Gone. [Pete Seeger](https://www.npr.org/artists/15869924/pete-seeger)'s "Turn! His publicist confirmed the artist's death to NPR; no cause of death was given at the time of this report. Crosby had long dealt with serious health problems, including multiple heart attacks, diabetes and hepatitis C, for which he had a liver transplant in 1994.

American rock legend David Crosby has died aged 81 following a long illness, his wife Jan Dance announced on Friday. Crosby, one of the most influential ...

Crosby, one of the most influential rock singers of the 1960s and ’70s, was a founding member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash (later becoming Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young). American rock legend David Crosby has died aged 81 following a long illness, his wife Jan Dance announced on Friday. US rock legend David Crosby passes away at 81

Over the course of six decades in the music industry, the vocalist, guitarist and composer at the forefront of countercultural rock penned a rich array of ...

"His music and legacy will inspire many generations to come. We'll miss him a lot." But writing with peers "extended my life as a writer tremendously," he said. "I know people tend to focus on how volatile our relationship has been at times, but what has always mattered to David and me more than anything was the pure joy of the music we created together, the sound we discovered with one another, and the deep friendship we shared over all these many long years," Nash said in a statement. "Although he is no longer here with us, his humanity and kind soul will continue to guide and inspire us. "The glue that held us together as our vocals soared, like Icarus, towards the sun."

From his pioneering folk-rock with the Byrds to his hippie classics with Crosby, Still & Nash (and Young), David Crosby was a pivotal figure in rock's ...

(“The French have been doing ménage à trois for centuries,” Crosby told The Times. “Croz” launched a late-career resurgence for Crosby, who quickly followed the album with four more LPs on which he sounded as psyched to be writing and recording as he ever had. An exquisite piece of romantic fatalism from “Younger Than Yesterday,” Crosby’s final album as a full-time Byrd (before a so-so mid-’70s reunion). Critics hated Crosby’s solo debut, “If I Could Only Remember My Name,” when it came out in 1971. Tambourine Man” offers an early showcase of the flair for close harmony singing that would define much of Crosby’s work over the decades to come. David Crosby was a crucial voice of both the hippie idealism and the world-weary realism of the classic-rock era.

David Crosby, the legendary singer-songwriter and founding member of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, has died at 81.

In 2000, Melissa Etheridge revealed that Crosby was the father of the two children she shared with then-partner, Julie Cypher. “I regretted losing him many times,” Crosby told The Associated Press of Raymond in 1998. The band went on to release a series of hits with “Marrakesh Express,” “Just a Song Before I Go,” “Woodstock” and others. Cypher carried the children Crosby fathered by artificial insemination, Etheridge told Rolling Stone. “I was right about the sex. [“Live at the Capitol Theater,”](https://davidcrosby.com/products/david-crosby-the-lighthouse-band-live-at-the-capitol-theatre-cd-dvd) came out last month. I was wrong when it came to drugs.” "I was happy to be at peace with him," he said. Shortly after he underwent the liver transplant, Crosby was reunited with Raymond, who had been placed for adoption in 1961. Crosby also had a daughter, Donovan, with Debbie Donovan. He spoke his mind, his heart and his passion through his beautiful music and leaves an incredible legacy. His legacy will continue to live on through his legendary music."

David Crosby, the influential folk-rock icon behind The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, has died at 81. Here are photos of his life.

25, 2018 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 4, 2011 in New York City. Photo Credit : Michael Ochs Archives/GI 1s, all with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1970’s Deja Vu, 1971’s 4 Way Street and 1974’s So Far). In 1968, he joined forces with Buffalo Springfield’s Stephen Stills and The Hollies’ Graham Nash to form Crosby, Stills & Nash. 19).

US musician David Crosby, pictured here before an interview about his 2006 autobiography in New York, has passed away aged 81. File photo.

After a stay in New York’s Greenwich Village music scene, Crosby was back in California in 1963 and helped Roger McGuinn start the Byrds, whose first hit, a cover of Bob Dylan's Mr Tambourine Man, came in 1965 followed by Turn! But I think we didn’t know our butt from a hole in the ground about drugs and that bit us pretty hard.” Crosby was born on August 14 1941 in Los Angeles.

David Crosby, the trailblazing singer-songwriter whose time with The Byrds and later Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young expanded rock's range, has died, ...

"His music and legacy will inspire many generations to come. His music and legacy will inspire many generations to come. "I know people tend to focus on how volatile our relationship has been at times, but what has always mattered to David and me more than anything was the pure joy of the music we created together, the sound we discovered with one another, and the deep friendship we shared over all these many long years," Nash said in a statement. But writing with peers "extended my life as a writer tremendously," he said. We'll miss him a lot." I will forever be grateful to him, Django, and Jan. And a wonderful person. "Although he is no longer here with us, his humanity and kind soul will continue to guide and inspire us. David was an unbelievable talent - such a great singer and songwriter. You write less," he told AFP during an interview in 2021. "I heard the place is overrated... cloudy," he quipped.

BMG has paid tribute to David Crosby, who has died aged 81. The music legend was a recording artist and publishing client of BMG, as well as being a BMG ...

[David Crosby: Remember My Name](https://www.musicweek.com/labels/read/fred-casimir-on-bmg-s-david-bowie-documentary-and-the-music-company-s-growing-film-division/086450), produced by Cameron Crowe and directed by AJ Eaton. Crosby attended the premiere along with BMG execs including [CEO Hartwig Masuch](https://www.musicweek.com/media/read/david-bowie-film-moonage-daydream-is-2022-s-biggest-documentary-at-the-box-office/087142). He would go on to form the Grammy-winning supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) in 1968, before Neil Young joined the band adding his name (CSN&Y). One of the all-time greats, we remember David through his incredible music, poignant words, and electric performances. [Rock & Roll Hall of Fame](https://www.musicweek.com/talent/read/lyor-cohen-on-the-future-of-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame/084521) for his work with both The Byrds and CSN, Crosby released his first solo album If I Could Only Remember My Name in 1971. The company posted on social media that Crosby was “one of the all-time greats, we remember David through his incredible music, poignant words, and electric performances”.

The singer thanked the veteran rocker, who died this week, for “giving me the gift of family”

“It is with a deep and profound sadness that I learned that my friend David Crosby has passed. Although he is no longer here with us, his humanity and kind soul will continue to guide and inspire us.” He gave me the gift of family. Nash said that Crosby “was fearless in life and in music” and “leaves behind a tremendous void as far as sheer personality and talent in this world”. “He spoke his mind, his heart and his passion through his beautiful music.” Beckett died of a drug overdose in 2020.

Crosby co-founded the Byrds, cementing his place as a major architect of the 1960s folk-rock movement. The title track of the California group's second LP ...

The accompanying music is languid and introspective, internalising the guiding influence of the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia (an integral part of the recording sessions) and a gentle psychedelic vibe. In turn, Crosby and his band cook up a very funky, very Steely Dan-esque song with sax, horns, stacks of keyboards and one of Croz’s smoothest, most enthusiastic vocal performances. The title track of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s second album is lyrically quite literal – Crosby said he wrote it after a sailing trip that felt over familiar. A song about steeling yourself for the solitude of a painful breakup – Crosby compares it to being overcome by a wave while being far offshore – it reveals his knack for vulnerable lyrics and memorable melodies. Crosby especially expressed the anger and frustration of the time, crying out “How many more?” and “Why?” as the song comes to an end. Crosby co-founded the Byrds, cementing his place as a major architect of the 1960s folk-rock movement.

Singer and songwriter whose work with the Byrds, and Crosby, Stills and Nash helped define folk-rock.

An accomplished musician and composer, Raymond played in the jazz-rock band CPR with his father and Jeff Pevar (they released four albums between 1998 and 2001), was music director for Crosby’s solo live shows and also became a member of Crosby, Stills and Nash’s touring band from 2009. He released the solo album Thousand Roads (1993), which gave him a minor hit single with Hero, then picked up the pace dramatically in the new century with Croz (2014), Lighthouse (2016), Sky Trails (2017) and Here If You Listen (2018). One of his regular musical collaborators was James Raymond, his child with Celia Crawford Ferguson, whom Crosby had left pregnant in California in the early 60s, and who had given her baby up for adoption. Born in Los Angeles, he was the second son of the cinematographer Floyd Crosby and his first wife, Aliph Van Cortlandt Whitehead, a scion of the influential Van Cortlandt dynasty. In 1973 Crosby reunited with his previous band for the album Byrds, and in 1977 Crosby, Stills and Nash released CSN, which reached No 2 on the US album chart and outsold the trio’s debut. [Peter Tork](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/feb/21/peter-tork-obituary) of the Monkees, Crosby bought a 74ft schooner called Mayan, where he would write some of his best-known songs including Crosby, Stills and Nash’s Wooden Ships. He would make six further solo discs, in addition to Crosby & Nash (2004), two albums with Stills and Nash (Live It Up in 1990 and After the Storm, 1994) and American Dream and Looking Forward with CSNY (1988 and 1999). The hanging chords and mysterious time changes of his title track made it one of his most mesmerising compositions, while Almost Cut My Hair was his battle cry for the counterculture. He marked his return with the enthralling autobiography Long Time Gone (1988) and the solo album Oh Yes I Can (1989). The members then embarked on solo ventures and their reunions grew increasingly rare, though they reformed for a stadium tour in 1974, a lavishly wasteful affair that Crosby nicknamed “the Doom tour”. Their debut album, Crosby Stills & Nash (1969), was an immediate smash, and proved hugely influential on a rising generation of west coast artists. This was defined by their shimmering recording of Bob Dylan’s Mr Tambourine Man, its distinctive harmonies and chiming 12-string guitar carrying it to the top of the charts in Britain and the US in 1965.

David Crosby, one of the most influential rock musicians of the 1960s and 1970s, and who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with two different ...

The prison system required him to shave his trademark bushy mustache, but he found solace in playing in the prison band during his year of incarceration. Crosby introduced Dance to heroin and the free-basing method of smoking cocaine. The next decade was a blur of drug arrests, album releases and women. That relationship lasted and they had a son, Django, in 1995. Their first album, Crosby, Stills and Nash, was a big seller in 1969. But I think we didn’t know our butt from a hole in the ground about drugs and that bit us pretty hard.” Crosby was born on 14 August 1941, in Los Angeles. In the 2019 documentary David Crosby: Remember My Name, he made it clear that he hoped they could work together again, but conceded the others “really dislike me, strongly”. Crosby’s wife, Jan Dance, announced the death in a statement published by Variety. And a wonderful person,” Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson said on Twitter. Musically, Crosby stood out for his intricate vocal harmonies, unorthodox open tunings on guitar and incisive songwriting. and the deep friendship we shared,” Nash said.

NPR's A Martinez talks to Michael Walker, author of Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock-and-Roll's Legendary Neighborhood, about David Crosby's legacy.

And it really struck me as a really interesting point of view for life and for his career because in the studio he was known to be a very - he would be a - he was known to be a pretty difficult guy, but he was always pushing the envelope with the musicians he worked with to not just get it good, but to get it great. WALKER: Well, that was - he was a man that really - he was a sensualist. So how was he important, then, to the sound of both bands? Here with more on the legacy of David Crosby is Michael Walker, author of a book about the Laurel Canyon scene. But the three of them together is absolutely unmistakable. And it's a tribute to his talent and his perseverance that he was able to end his career performing again. He was the co-founder of two iconic bands. But his voice, this little keening tenor, was the glue that held that all together. And this is a man that could con a 76-foot schooner across the Pacific for thousands of miles with a joint in one hand and a sextant in the other. The Byrds were early pioneers of psychedelic rock. GRAHAM NASH: Whatever vocal sound that Crosby, Stills & Nash has was born in less than 40 seconds - no rehearsing that vocal blend. Folk-rock legend David Crosby has died at the age of 81.

The musician relished sharing opinions big and small, sparring with fans and dispelling myths, often in sharp, hilarious quips. The vibe on the platform ...

[rating joints](https://twitter.com/thedavidcrosby/status/1612651571413934080), once again advocating for [the mood-setting capabilities](https://twitter.com/thedavidcrosby/status/1609821563377057793) of his own music and making plans [to perform again](https://twitter.com/thedavidcrosby/status/1608872502717210626). [playful](https://twitter.com/thedavidcrosby/status/1492927917357088768), and [sweet](https://twitter.com/thedavidcrosby/status/1582209811130654720). He praised younger musicians like [Jason Isbell](https://twitter.com/thedavidcrosby/status/1404947814774304768) and [Jacob Collier](https://twitter.com/thedavidcrosby/status/1221837610131148802). He solicited [movie recommendations](https://twitter.com/thedavidcrosby/status/1362668045576019971) and [promoted restaurants](https://twitter.com/thedavidcrosby/status/1229530935965573120). Even as Twitter [frays](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/29/technology/twitter-elon-musk.html) and [coarsens](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/02/technology/twitter-hate-speech.html) under Musk’s ownership, it’s still possible to have fun with others, one of the few things that keeps users from leaving. [Grammy.com](https://www.grammy.com/news/david-crosby-new-album-for-free-twitter-csny-interview) in 2021. [“Eleanor Rigby”](https://twitter.com/thedavidcrosby/status/1615679396765134850)). He loved to talk about his wife, and his appreciation for [his family life](https://twitter.com/thedavidcrosby/status/1458581447845974017). In a bit of poignant foreshadowing, he shared some thoughts [ about heaven](https://twitter.com/thedavidcrosby/status/1615681363600080899): “I heard the place is overrated,” he wrote, “cloudy.” His willingness to post so often and honestly did the work of several marketing budgets, and accompanied a late-career creative renaissance that saw the release of five solo albums in the last decade. (It’s hard to believe that Mick Jagger has anything to do with the Rolling Stones’ newly announced He was a boldfaced name for his brief prison stay on drug charges, his liver transplant and the revelation that he was the sperm donor for Melissa Etheridge’s two children with Julie Cypher.