David Crosby

• Born: August 14, 1941
• Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California
• Died: January 18, 2023
• Place of Death: Santa Ynez, California

AMERICAN ROCK SINGER, SONGWRITER, AND GUITARIST

Crosby was a major contributor to folk-rock, a genre that blended traditional acoustic folk music with electronically amplified rock.

MEMBER OF Byrds; Crosby, Stills, and Nash; Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

The Life

Born in Los Angeles, California, David Van Cortlandt Crosby was the son of Oscar-winning cinematographer Floyd Delafield Crosby and artist Aliph Van Cortlandt Whitehead Crosby. As a student at Montecito’s Crane Country Day School, he often performed in musicals. Shortly after he graduated from Cate School in Carpinteria, his parents divorced.

Originally intending to become an actor—he later appeared in several movies and television shows—Crosby instead took up music, and he sang folk songs with his older brother Floyd, Jr. (known as Ethan, who committed suicide in the late 1990s). By the early 1960s, he had connected with other musicians who would soon form the core of the popular group the Byrds. In the late 1960s, he became part of the folk-rock group Crosby, Stills, and Nash, which periodically performed with Neil Young as Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.

Crosby, who began using drugs and alcohol as a teenager, sank further into substance abuse after his girlfriend, Christine Hinton, died in a 1969 automobile accident. Often in legal difficulties throughout the 1970s and 1980s because of drug use and weapons possession, he went through rehabilitation after a stint in the Texas State Penitentiary. However, he was arrested for drug possession as late as 2004. His hard living necessitated a liver transplant in 1995. In 2000, it was revealed that Crosby was the sperm donor for two children produced by artificial insemination for singer Melissa Etheridge and her partner Julie Cypher. Crosby was married to record producer Jan Dance since 1987, and he was the father of their son Django. Crosby died in January 2023.

The Music

As a songwriter, singer, instrumentalist, and performer, Crosby first made an impact in the early 1960s with the band the Byrds. The Byrds created a fresh, new sound that inspired such artists as Bob Dylan, the Beatles, and many others. After internal squabbles led to Crosby leaving the Byrds, he united in the late 1960s with Graham Nash and Stephen Stills to form Crosby, Stills, and Nash, a group that developed the concept of folk-rock. Featuring close harmonies, creative arrangements, and musical subjects that captured the times, Crosby, Stills, and Nash (and later with Young) helped define a generation in song. Crosby, who released a number of critically acclaimed solo albums since 1971, continued to perform with Crosby, Stills, and Nash; with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young; and with Jeff Pevar and James Raymond.

Fifth Dimension. The third album by the Byrds, released in 1966, featured a number of songs written or cowritten by Crosby. Notable among these was the psychedelic anthem “Eight Miles High,” which made it into the Top 20. The album stayed for more than six months on the Billboard charts, and it sold well both in the United States and in England.

Crosby, Stills, and Nash. This 1969 debut album combined elements of blues, rock, folk, and jazz to produce an instant classic that rose to number six on album charts, helping to set a new direction in American music. Showcasing Crosby’s talent for tapping into society’s concerns, Stills’s skills in formulating interesting and complicated musical arrangements, and Nash’s ability to develop pop hooks, the album produced the Top 40 hits “Marrakesh Express” and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” (written for singer Judy Collins), as well as such popular standards as “Guinnevere,” “Wooden Ships,” “Helplessly Hoping,” and “Long Time Gone.”

Déjà Vu. The follow-up to Crosby, Stills, and Nash and the first to feature Neil Young, this 1970 release solidified the band’s position as a musical force. Déjà Vu reached the top position on pop album charts—the first of three consecutive album chart-toppers—and it spawned three Top 40 singles: “Teach Your Children,” “Our House,” and “Woodstock.” Flavored with country, Western, rock, folk, and blues, the album offered something for every musical taste, from the soaring harmonies of Stills’s “Carry On” to Crosby’s tongue-in-cheek “Almost Cut My Hair,” which perfectly captured the dichotomy between straight and freak elements existing then.

If I Could Only Remember My Name. Crosby’s first solo album, this 1971 release jocularly refers to the artist’s well-documented drug problems, and it has remained popular since its debut. Though Crosby is the featured performer throughout, many guest artists contributed to the effort, including Young, Nash, Joni Mitchell, and members of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Santana. The album rose as high as number twelve on album charts, with such cuts as “Music Is Love,” “Laughing,” and “I’d Swear There Was Somebody Here.”

Musical Legacy

An important member of two seminal folk-rock bands—the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, and Nash—Crosby had a significant influence on music, both in content and in style. The subject matter of his songs had a wide range, covering the whole of human experience, from concerns about fitting in (“Almost Cut My Hair”) to consideration of a ménage à trois (“Triad”). In addition, politically charged and socially relevant statements were always a mainstay in his compositions. Crosby’s music cut across an amazing variety of genres—folk, country, Western, psychedelic, jazz, and rock—and combinations of styles. His strong voice, capable of carrying lead vocals, added depth and substance to group efforts. Crosby was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: for his work with the Byrds and with Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Crosby made periodic and highly acclaimed tours with his longtime bandmates, building upon an impressive body of original work.

In 2019, the documentary film David Crosby: Remember My Name premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2022, Crosby released his final studio album, For Free, and, in 2022, his final album of live music performed with members of The Lighthouse Band was released. In 2022, Crosby announced he would no longer play live music but would continue to record. Crosby died in January 2023.

Principal Recordings

ALBUMS (solo): If I Could Only Remember My Name, 1971; Oh Yes I Can, 1989; Thousand Roads, 1993.

ALBUMS (with the Byrds): Mr. Tambourine Man, 1965; Turn! Turn! Turn!, 1965; Fifth Dimension, 1966; Younger than Yesterday, 1967; The Notorious Byrd Brothers, 1968; Sweetheart of the Rodeo, 1968; Ballad of Easy Rider, 1969; Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde, 1969; Untitled, 1970; Byrdmaniax, 1971; Farther Along, 1971; The Byrds, 1973.

ALBUMS (with Crosby, Stills, and Nash): Crosby, Stills, and Nash, 1969; CSN, 1977; Daylight Again, 1982; Live It Up, 1990; After the Storm, 1994.

ALBUMS (with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young): Déjà Vu, 1970; American Dream, 1988; Looking Forward, 1999.

Bibliography

Crosby, David, and Carl Gottleib. Long Time Gone: The Autobiography of David Crosby. New York: Doubleday, 1988.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Since Then: How I Survived Everything and Lived to Tell About It. New York: Berkley, 2007.

David Crosby Official Website, 2023, davidcrosby.com/. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.

Hoskyns, Barney. Hotel California: The True-Life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and Their Many Friends. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2007.

Morris, Chris, et al. “David Crosby, Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash Co-Founder, Dies at 81.” Variety, 19 Jan. 2023, variety.com/2023/music/news/david-crosby-dead-dies-byrds-crosby-stills-nash-1235495467/. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.

Walker, Michael. Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll’s Legendary Neighborhood. London: Faber & Faber, 2006.

Zimmer, Dave. 4 Way Street: The Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young Reader. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, 2004.