David Crosby

He was an original member of the Byrds and a founder of Crosby, Stills & Nash. But he was almost as well known for his troubled personal life as for his ...

Mr. Crosby, Mr. Stills and Mr. Nash, and sometimes Mr. McGuinn and Mr. Crosby released a series of successful albums with Mr. Crosby and Mr. Starting in 1972, Mr. Crosby wrote his first song with Mr. By this time Mr. Patricia Dance, a sister of Mr. Crosby’s wife, Jan Dance, said in a text message on Thursday evening that Mr.

David Crosby, a folk rock pioneer and one of the founding members of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, has died, his family announced Thursday.

He spoke his mind, his heart, and his passion through his beautiful music and leaves an incredible legacy. Turn!” which was made popular again in the mid-’90s thanks to the 1994 feature film “Forrest Gump.” He was released in 1986 and credited his time in prison with helping him get sober. He leaves behind a tremendous void as far as sheer personality and talent in this world. “That I can still at this advanced age get a chance to make more music is just a freaking miracle.” Carole King, who was joined on stage in 1994 by Crosby and Nash to perform “You’ve Got a Friend,” reacted to the news on His legacy will continue to live on through his legendary music” “We will miss him dearly.” The statement added that “David lived a life of deep and enduring gratitude and was an extraordinary, richly sentient being,” continuing to say that “his music will live on through us all.” The statement added: “David was fearless in life and in music. “There are two (centers) to my life; my family and the music,” he added. He was lovingly surrounded by his wife and soulmate Jan and son Django,” the Crosby family said in a statement, obtained by CNN through a family spokesperson.

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.

Variety first reported the news, citing the singer's wife, Jan Dance, who said that Crosby died following "a long illness".

"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. Crosby first found fame as a member of the Byrds, who jumped into the public consciousness with their cover of Bob Dylan's Mr Tambourine Man before delivering classic hits including Turn! We will miss him dearly." "Although he is no longer here with us, his humanity and kind soul will continue to guide and inspire us.

Singer-songwriter-guitarist David Crosby, a founding member of hugely influential '60s rock units the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, has died at 81.

“I loved him and he loved me and he was family to me.” Wrote Bob Dylan in his memoir, “Chronicles”: “Crosby was a colorful and unpredictable character, wore a Mandrake the Magician cape, didn’t get along with too many people and had a beautiful voice — an architect of harmony … In 2000 he published “Stand and Be Counted,” a history of activism in music, with David Bender. In a [separate article,](https://variety.com/2019/music/news/cameron-crowe-interview-david-crosby-documentary-remember-my-name-1203274929/) Crowe talked about working with producer Greg Mariotti on the picture with the idea of preserving Crosby’s legacy and personality for future generations of viewers. Though by no means a stranger to drug use himself, Young was appalled by Crosby’s behavior and the constant tension and disorder within the group, and withdrew to focus on his solo career, though he would return to tour with the other members in 1974. Crosby maintained his solo career with the albums “Oh Yes I Can” (No. Graham Nash was Crosby’s reliable partner and stabilizing collaborator through the ’70s: Together they issued the duo recordings “Graham Nash/David Crosby” (No. That June, the band appeared at the historic Monterey Pop Festival in Northern California; the politically outspoken Crosby infuriated McGuinn with some of his onstage remarks, and further enraged his bandmate by sitting in with Buffalo Springfield for most of their set. Though Crosby’s pure, soaring voice was a key component of the unit’s sound, he took a back seat as a writer to bandmates McGuinn and Clark, who were responsible for the group’s hit originals. Crosby spoke about his own mortality in the film, and Crowe remarked on that in an [David Crosby](https://variety.com/t/david-crosby/), a founding member of two popular and enormously influential ’60s rock units, the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash (later Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), has died, his representative says. I don’t have the stamina; I don’t have the strength.” But he said he was recording as busily as possible: “I’ve been making records at a startling rate.

David Crosby, one of the most influential rock musicians of the 1960s and '70s 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. Their first album, "Crosby, Stills and Nash," was a big seller in 1969. The next decade was a blur of drug arrests, album releases and women. But I think we didn't know our butt from a hole in the ground about drugs and that bit us pretty hard." That relationship lasted and they had a son, Django, in 1995. His drug habits and often abrasive personality contributed to the demise of CSNY and the members eventually quit speaking to each other. "I'm ashamed of that." And a wonderful person," Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson said on Twitter. and the deep friendship we shared," Nash said. David was an unbelievable talent - such a great singer and songwriter. Crosby's wife, Jan Dance, announced the death in a statement published by Variety.

Crosby was a founding member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The prison system required him to shave his trademark bushy moustache, but he found solace in playing in the prison band during his year of incarceration. I was a complete and utter pleasure-seeking sybarite,” he wrote in his autobiography. In 2014, he released Croz, his first solo album since 1993, but his tour to promote the record was interrupted by heart surgery. He was also arrested on gun and marijuana charges in New York in 2004. The next decade was a blur of drug arrests, album releases and women. That relationship lasted and they had a son, Django, in 1995. 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! 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.” He also managed to alienate many of his famous former bandmates, for which he often expressed remorse in recent years. Crosby’s wife, Jan Dance, announced the death in a statement published by Variety. and the deep friendship we shared,” Nash, 80, said.

Singer, songwriter and guitarist co-founded the Byrds and supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash.

In the same interview, Crosby admitted that – after surviving alcohol, cocaine and heroin addictions for many years – he “expected to be dead” at 30. I’m not, because I’m 80.” He also pointed to his age to explain his recent spate of solo albums: “I’m 80 years old so I’m gonna die fairly soon. And so I’m trying really hard to crank out as much music as I possibly can, as long as it’s really good.” His music and legacy will inspire many generations to come.” His most recent, For Free, was produced and co-written with James Raymond, a son Crosby didn’t know he had until Raymond was 30, after he was given up for adoption by his mother after birth. Raymond had been a musician for 20 years before he discovered who his father was, and tracked him down. In 2019 documentary Remember My Name, Byrds member Roger McGuinn described Crosby and his on-stage political rants as “insufferable”, with fellow band member Chris Hillman saying he had a superiority complex. “He leaves behind a tremendous void.” He recently described Mitchell as “the best singer-songwriter ... In 1968, Crosby met Stephen Stills and the pair started jamming together. He was lovingly surrounded by his wife and soulmate Jan and son Django. Thank you for the love and prayers.”

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

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”.

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.

The singer and songwriter, who died this week, created music that helped define an era and stretched across generations. Listen to six decades of tracks ...

Written with the members of the Lighthouse Band, “Balanced on a Pin” contemplates fragility and mortality: “Landing’s the hardest part/The connection comes apart,” Crosby sings. “Curved Air” — written with his son James Raymond — is briskly percussive and rhythmically unpredictable, with flamenco-like handclaps and a bass line that talks back to him. There’s more than a hint of Crosby’s lifelong admiration for Mitchell in “Holding On to Nothing,” with its calmly strummed, eccentric chords and asymmetrical melody. In 1971, Crosby released his perfectly atmospheric solo debut album, “If I Could Only Remember My Name,” backed by members of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane as well as Joni Mitchell, who joined the backup harmonies on this song. “Don’t you wonder what’s going on down under you?” the members of this supergroup harmonized at a key moment in this wonderfully complex musical and verbal construction. Boomers can remember when the length of a man’s hair signified a political allegiance. Survivors from opposite sides of a war, who don’t even know “who won,” share their meager supplies, deciding they can be “free and easy” on the water. The song would emerge anyway: first with the Jefferson Airplane, later on “4 Way Street” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Written by Crosby and Jim McGuinn (who would later rename himself Roger), “I See You” shows their shared interest in Indian music and John Coltrane’s jazz. He was also happy to dissolve that voice, and the ego it implied, into shared vocal harmonies: with the Byrds, with Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young) and with his 21st-century group, the Lighthouse Band. Is it a love song or a rush of hallucinations? The singer and songwriter, who died this week, created music that helped define an era and stretched across generations.

Crosby could be overbearing and convinced of his own brilliance – but despite the ups and downs of his time with the Byrds and CSNY, he was always proven ...

He also became an enthusiastic user of Twitter – he was still tweeting the day before he died – on which he was variously funny, provocative, infuriating, generous, wilfully argumentative, clearly obsessed with music, and never above reminding the world of his own talent. Soulless and stilted, American Dream was a largely awful album – Compass, which Crosby had written in prison, was a rare highlight among a dearth of decent material – and, if anything, the subsequent CSNY album Live It Up was even worse, a hopeless attempt to marry their harmonies to the booming drums and glossy synth production that was still mainstream US rock’s default setting. It was a problem that also afflicted his post-prison solo albums Oh Yes I Can and Thousand Roads, although anyone prepared to dig deep would find a scattering of songs suggesting his skills were undiminished – the reflective and rueful Tracks in the Dust, the wordless Flying Man on the former, the Mitchell co-write Yvette in English on the latter. After Crosby emerged from a nine-month stretch in prison on drugs and weapons charges – a sentence that almost undoubtedly saved his life – Young proved true to his word. Just how intent he was is laid out in his 1988 autobiography Long Time Gone, a book that spares few details in documenting his descent: the open sores that covered his face and body, the squalid conditions in which he and partner, Jan Dance, lived, the crowd of dealers and fellow addicts he surrounded himself with – so sinister that even the musicians still willing to work with him dubbed them “the Manson Family” – the endless string of drug and firearms busts. A man who had battled the Byrds to get as many of his songs as possible on their albums managed only three compositions on 1977’s CSN, an album that sold 6m copies: if the sense of exploratory magic that sparkled throughout Crosby Stills and Nash’s debut had been replaced by solid professionalism, its sound fitted neatly with that year’s vogue for smooth, Californian rock (tellingly, it was at No 2 in the US charts when Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours was at No 1). Nash began publicly expressing the view that Crosby was going to die; Young responded to his plight with the scathing Hippie Dream, a song that depicted Crosby in his ruin, “capsized in excess”. The album’s poppier material was Nash’s work, while Crosby came up with more expansive and exploratory exercises in mood and atmosphere of which Games was a particularly great example. It was a huge hit, establishing CSN as the premier example of that most late 60s of concepts, the supergroup. Yet the Byrds had initially demurred from recording his material: it was hard to find room in among the souped-up folk songs and Dylan covers and the work of the band’s frontman McGuinn and chief songwriter Gene Clark. He forced his fellow Byrds to listen to a collection of Ravi Shankar ragas and John Coltrane’s Africa/Brass over and over again while touring the UK: the two albums inspired the groundbreaking Eight Miles High, widely considered to be the first psychedelic single ever released. He successfully lobbied for his song Lady Friend to be released as a single: it was both a flop and a superb song, richly melodic, boasting an intricate brass arrangement and complex vocal harmonies.

Creatively radical Californian who pushed The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young to break new ground.

For a full comparison of Standard and Premium Digital, click here. You'll enjoy access to several newsletters including FirstFT, a daily newsletter with the global stories you need to know as well as Editor's Choice, a weekly newsletter featuring the editor's favourite stories. Access our essential offering with over 600 journalists in 50+ countries covering markets, politics, business, tech and more.

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.

Legendary rocker Neil Young has paid tribute to former Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmate David Crosby.

David was the catalyst of many things.” Young and Crosby’s paths crossed in 1970 when Young joined Crosby, Stills & Nash. “His great songs stood for what we believed in and it was always fun and exciting when we got to play together,” Young’s tribute continued. [posted to Facebook, ](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=758979955598521&set=a.325940078902513)adding that “what has always mattered to David and me more than anything was the pure joy of the music we created together.” Stills added that “David lived a life of deep and enduring gratitude and was an extraordinary, richly sentient being,” continuing to say that “his music will live on through us all.” Crosby was a very supportive friend in my early life, as we bit off big pieces of our experience together.