Singer-songwriter and guitarist David Crosby, a founding member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash (later Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), has died. He was 81 years old.
His wife released a statement to Variety, writing, “It is with great sadness after a long illness, that our beloved David (Croz) Crosby has passed away. He was lovingly surrounded by his wife and soulmate Jan and son Django. Although he is no longer here with us, his humanity and kind soul will continue to guide and inspire us. His legacy will continue to live on through his legendary music. Peace, love, and harmony to all who knew David and those he touched. We will miss him dearly. At this time, we respectfully and kindly ask for privacy as we grieve and try to deal with our profound loss. Thank you for the love and prayers.”
Crosby was a pioneer of LA’s 60s folk-rock Laurel Canyon scene, during which he helped establish the subgenre with the Byrds during his up and down 1964-67 tenure in the group. In an interview with New Musical Express from April 19, 1975, Crosby explained the group’s break-up, saying, “Roger [McGuinn] and Chris [Hillman] drove up in a pair of Porsches and said that I was crazy, impossible to work with, an ego-manic – all of which is partly true – that I sang s____y, wrote terrible songs, made horrible sounds, and that they would do much better without me.”
During that period, he became friends with Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield and Graham Nash of the Hollies launching Crosby, Stills & Nash, whose 1968 debut went multi-platinum.
As if the group didn’t have enough star power, Crosby and the band recruited Neil Young to join the group. The group was rocky from the start, though they managed to create seminal albums like 1970’s Deja Vu. Crosby struggled with drug issues and left the band, but returned to music as a solo artist in 1971. If I Could Only Remember My Name peaked at No.12, and featured performances from Nash, Young, Joni Mitchell and members of Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, and Santana.
Crosby continued to release solo albums like Oh Yes I Can in 1989, Thousand Roads in 1993, and an album with Graham Nash in 2004.
