David Crosby, folk rock pioneer, has died at 81 after a long illness
David Crosby, one of the architects of the 1960s’ folk-, psych-, and country-rock scenes as a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, and one of the most influential singer-songwriters of all time, has died. The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee was 81 years old.
“It is with great sadness after a long illness, that our beloved David (Croz) Crosby has passed away,” read a statement released Thursday by Crosby’s wife of 36 years, Jan Dance. “He was lovingly surrounded by his wife and soulmate Jan and son Django. Even though he is no more with us, his kindness and humanity will continue to inspire and guide us. His legendary music will carry his legacy on. Peace, love and harmony to all those who knew David, as well as the people he touched. We will miss him deeply. As we grieve and deal with this loss, we ask for your privacy. Thank you for the love and prayers.”
David Van Cortlandt Crosby, a son of Floyd Crosby, was born in Los Angeles on Aug. 14, 1941. He formed the seminal folk-rock group the Byrds in 1964 with Gene Clarke, Michael Clarke and Roger McGuinn. Although his time in the band was turbulent, his unique guitar tunings, angelic harmonys and unique phrasings set the foundation for a classic California sound that has influenced many musicians over the years, such as Robyn Hitchcock and Big Star. Among the Byrds songs he co-wrote were “Eight Miles High,” “Renaissance Fair,” “Mind Gardens,” “Lady Friend,” “Everybody’s Been Burned,” “Dolphin’s Smile,” “Why,” “I See You,” and “It Happens Each Day.”
Ironically, Crosby’s firing from the Byrds partially stemmed from an incident when he joined Buffalo Springfield onstage at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, filling in for an absent Neil Young, yet that opened the door to his next project, formed in 1968: the supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash (sometimes Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) with Buffalo Springfield’s Stephen Stills and the Hollies’ Graham Nash. Among the songs Crosby co-wrote while in CS&N(Y) were “Guinnevere,” “Almost Cut My Hair,” “Long Time Gone,” “Delta,” “Wooden Ships,” and “Déjà Vu.”
Crosby, Stills & Nash’s self-titled debut went to No. 6 on the U.S. album chart and sold quadruple-platinum, and CS&N won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1969. That same year, they played their second concert – and their first with new on/off member Neil Young — in front of 500,000 revelers at the Woodstock festival. The subsequent CSN&Y albums Déjà VuLive LP 4-Way Street Both went to No. 1 and sold a combined 11 million copies, but Crosby’s personal issues, including a heroin habit formed after his girlfriend Christine Hinton was killed in an automobile accident, led to Crosby parting with this group as well. Over the years, Crosby participated in various reunions with both the Byrds (in 1972-73) and with CSN&Y, most notably with latter at Live Aid in 1985, various Bridge School Benefits, and full tours in 2000, 2002, and 2006. The final Crosby, Stills & Nash performance took place in 2015 at an ill-fated National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Washington, D.C., after which Nash announced that CSN&Y would never perform together again because of a falling-out with Crosby. Crosby, however, has indicated that he is open to a second reunion.
Crosby’s well-publicized personal and legal issues often overshadowed his impressive body of work. For instance, his nine-month Texas prison sentence on various drugs and weapons convictions, his 1994 liver transplant, and the 2000 revelation that he was the sperm donor of Melissa Etheridge’s two children made huge headlines. But throughout his career, Crosby also recorded eight acclaimed solo LPs, as well as two studio albums with CPR, a jazz-rock band he formed with session guitarist Jeff Pevar and keyboardist James Raymond, the latter being his son who’d been placed for adoption in 1962 and with whom Crosby reunited in the ‘90s. Crosby’s 20th anniversary album was his first solo release. Croz, recorded at Raymond’s home studio, and that project unexpectedly reignited his creativity. Between 2014 and 2021, Crosby released four albums, the most recent being 2021’s Get it Free.
Speaking to Yahoo Entertainment in 2019 Cameron Crowe-produced documentary, “Warts and All”, was promoted David Crosby: Remember My Name, Crosby seemed more surprised than anyone by his late-in-life career resurgence, saying, “I’m supposed to be wandering off into the sunset hand-in-hand with my wife. But I’m not. In the past four years, I have made four records. I’m full songs. I am full of life. I am having a great time. I can sing better than I have ever in my entire life. I write really well. I’m fortunate to have many great writing partners. My music just flows from me. That’s an aberration. It’s an unusual situation. …I did have a head of steam built up, because the last 10 years when I was in CS&N, we weren’t really friends, and I didn’t feel I could take songs there. It’s more about the people I have worked with, like Michael League, James Raymond, Becca Stevens and Michelle Willis. … They’re as good of writers as I can find in the world, and that is inspiring stuff, man. This brings out the best in me. I love what I do. I love making music, but I love even more teaming up with somebody who thinks of stuff I didn’t think of.”
In that same Yahoo Entertainment interview, Crosby, then age 77, said he was “a little baffled” that, despite his many drug and health issues, he had outlived so many of his peers, and admitted that he had “survivor’s guilt. … It’s not just that they were my compatriots. They were my. Friends. Cass [Elliot] Probably one of my most important friends in life. Janis [Joplin]Jimi [Hendrix] — really good friends. These are just three of the many that spring to mind. But there were many more. You wonder, ‘Why me?’ I don’t have an answer to that, but I figure the answer is, ‘OK, well, I don’t know why, but I’m here.’ So then, if you are given the lifetime to do something with it, then do something worthwhile.”
Crosby’s survivors include his wife Jan Dance, James Raymond, his son and daughter with Celia Crawford Ferguson, his two daughters with Jackie Guthrie, Debbie Donovan and Erika Crosby, as well his son and dance, Django Crosby.
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