David Crosby

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist David Crosby - born August 14, 1941, in Los Angeles, California - became one of the key figures of the 1960s West Coast scene and would eventually be twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He dropped out of college to strum away in coffee houses and tour the country with Les Baxter's Balladeers before founding the folk-rock band The Byrds in 1964. After his dismissal from The Byrds in 1967, he became a huge star with supergroup Crosby, (Stephen) Stills & (Graham) Nash (and sometimes Neil Young), playing at the legendary Woodstock festival and topping the US charts with the 1970 album Déjà Vu before turning solo with 1971’s If I Could Only Remember My Name. Featuring Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Jefferson Airplane, Graham Nash and Santana, the album peaked at Number 12 and was defined as ‘freak folk’ for its psychedelic influences and acoustic melodies. Always an outspoken political voice, David Crosby worked as a duo with Graham Nash throughout the 1970s producing the Top Ten albums Graham Nash David Crosby (1972) and Wind On the Water (1975), but he suffered drug problems and was imprisoned for nine months as a result. He returned with the solo albums Oh Yes I Can in 1989 and Thousand Roads in 1993. David Crosby then formed CPR (Crosby, Pever & Raymond) with his son James Raymond and guitarist Jeff Pevar, releasing two live albums before disbanding in 2004. He regularly battled ill-health and, at the request of medical professionals, he postponed scheduled tour dates in 2014 due to heart problems. That same year, the album Croz brought him back to the Top 40 in the albums chart. Creatively rejuvenated, he finished out the decade with three more albums including 2016’s Lighthouse. He began his seventh decade in the music business with the 2021 album For Free. His last album released during his lifetime was David Crosby & the Lighthouse Band Live at the Capital Theatre in 2022. Over the course of his career, he did reunite with The Byrds and CSN several times although they were for brief periods and never long-lasting. His outspokenness on political and personal matters caused a rift between him and his longtime friends and former bandmates Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young, who all distanced themselves from the ever-controversial singer-songwriter. David Crosby died on January 18, 2023, at the age of 81.