David Crosby Passed Away At 81

The founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, David Crosby, died at age 81.

A statement coming from his wife confirmed the news. It reads:

“It is with great sadness after a long illness, that our beloved David (Croz) Crosby has passed away,” read the statement. “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, who was born in Los Angeles in 1941, left college to focus on his musical career. Crosby performed in Greenwich Village in New York City and Chicago before heading back to Los Angeles. and joined the Byrds in 1964, along with Chris Hillman, Gene Clark, and Jim McGuinn (who eventually changed his name to Roger).

In 1967, the band decided to split up due to their ongoing tension. That’s a year after they had their first No. 1 success with a cover of “Mr. Tambourine Man” by Bob Dylan. Later on, together with Graham Nash of the Hollies and Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield, Crosby founded Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1968.

The Grammy Award for Best New Artist was given to them the following year for their self-titled debut album. Meanwhile, Crosby’s first solo album, If I Could Only Remember My Name, was released in 1971. The band split up and reformed numerous times over the years. The band was admitted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

Fast forward to 2022, Crosby announced that he would no longer be performing live shows, citing health problems that made it difficult for him to play the guitar. He said:

“I’ve got tendonitis in both hands.

“I can’t play well enough for my standards on stage. I could probably get away with it and you’d probably like it, but it’s not good enough for me. It’s possible I might do a residency someplace. We’ll see.”

He also shared his secret for maintaining his successful musical career, saying:

“The real thing that drives me is the partnerships that I’ve got with these other people now. It’s allowing me to extend my working life as a writer by probably 10 years. I can write with other people and successfully generate good stuff. That’s a rare thing. I don’t know why people get so hung up [with] ‘it has to be all me. Me, me.’ Us is a lot of fun, too!”