David Crosby, Legendary Member Of The Byrds & CSNY, Has Died At Age 81

Famed singer-songwriter and guitarist David Crosby has died. The co-founding member of both The Byrds and Crosby Stills Nash & Young was 81. The news of Crosby’s death was confirmed in the below statement shared by his family:

“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.”

David Van Cortlandt Crosby was born on August 14, 1941 in Los Angeles. His father, Floyd Crosby, was an Academy Award-winning cinematographer and his mother, Aliph Van Cortlandt Whitehead, was a member of the prominent Van Cortlandt family. Growing up in Southern California, Crosby dabbled in drama before deciding to pursue music as a career.

In the early 1960s, David began performing in the folk scenes of Chicago and New York City’s Greenwich Village as a duo with fellow musician Terry Callier. While in Chicago another musician friend, Miriam Makeba, introduced Crosby to Jim McGuinn who later changed his name to Roger. David and Roger would go on to co-found the band that would become The Byrds, who had their first hit with an electrified cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man,” a foundational work in the folk-rock genre and one that would propel The Byrds to stardom and lead many to call them “America’s answer to The Beatles.”

But Crosby’s relationship with The Byrds began to decline and he infamously sat in with Stephen Stills’ band Buffalo Springfield in lew of an absent Neil Young at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. David soon parted ways with The Byrds and would go on to form Crosby, Stills & Nash with Stephen and British singer-songwriter Graham Nash of The Hollies. The collaboration practically invented the term “supergroup” and the trio released their iconic self-titled debut in 1969. Neil Young would join soon after to create CSNY and another landmark album, Déjà Vu (named after a Crosby song), followed in 1970.

Hanging out in the Bay Area in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Crosby also began to collaborate with members of the Grateful Dead. The band Crosby would recruit to record his debut solo album, If I Could Only Remember My Name, included Dead members Jerry Gracia, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart alongside guest appearances from Joni Mitchell, members of Jefferson Airplane, Neil Young, Graham Nash and more.

Nash and Crosby would also form a duo and released a trio of albums in the 1970s. Along with intermittent CSN and CSNY reunions over the next few decades, Crosby also began a collaboration with his son Raymond, who David did not meet until Raymond was an adult, in 1996 with session guitarist Jeff Pevar dubbed CPR. In 1991 David Crosby was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame as a member of The Byrds. He would receive the honor for a second time in 1997 with Crosby, Stills & Nash.

In 2014, David Crosby released his first album in 20 years, titled Croz after his nickname. The new album sparked a later career renaissance for Crosby, which saw the singer-songwriter collaborating with young, up-and-coming musicians like Michael League of Snarky Puppy, who produced the 2016 album Lighthouse. A subsequent Lighthouse Band, featuring League and singer-songwriters/musicians Becca Stevens and Michelle Willis, helped David release his first solo live album, Live At The Capitol Theatre, just last year.

Graham Nash took to social media to share a remembrance of Croz, writing:

“It is with a deep and profound sadness that I learned that my friend David Crosby has passed. 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. David was fearless in life and in music. He 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 and leaves an incredible legacy. These are the things that matter most. My heart is truly with his wife, Jan, his son, Django, and all of the people he has touched in this world.”

Stephen Stills also shared a message in remembrance of Crosby. Stills wrote:

“I read a quote in this morning’s paper attributed to composer Gustav Mahler that stopped me for a moment:

‘Death has, on placid cat’s paws, entered the room.’

I shoulda known something was up.

David and I butted heads a lot over time, but they were mostly glancing blows, yet still left us numb skulls..

I was happy to be at peace with him.

He was without question a giant of a musician, and his harmonic sensibilities were nothing short of genius.

The glue that held us together as our vocals soared, like Icarus, towards the sun.

I am deeply saddened at his passing and shall miss him beyond measure.”

David Crosby’s legacy will live on in his music, voice, activism and humanitarianism.