David Crosby, a legendary musician and founding member of two of the most influential folk rock bands of the ‘60s, has died. He was 81 years old.
Variety first reported the death citing a statement from Crosby’s wife, Jan Dance.
“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,” Dance wrote.
Crosby is most well known for his involvement in the iconic bands the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash & Young.
His career spanned several decades and his performance at Woodstock is one that will forever cement itself in music history.
The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young both blended the sounds of country, folk and rock, along with political consciousness and harmonious vocals.
The Byrds’ version of ″Turn 3/8 Turn 3/8 Turn 3/8″ and Bob Dylan’s ″Mr. Tambourine Man″ became standards featuring Crosby’s high-voiced harmonies. From collaborations with Stills, Nash and Young came ″Teach Your Children,″ ″Woodstock″ and ″Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.”
Besides an illustrious music career, Crosby’s was also known for his struggles with addiction, landing himself in prison in 1983 on various narcotics and weapons charges.
But eventually, Crosby would live a clean and sober life. His story of addiction, arrests, imprisonment and recovery all told in the book, ″Long Time Gone,″ written with Crosby’s friend, writer-director Carl Gottlieb.
During his life, Crosby made headlines for fathering two children with singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge.
One of those children, Beckett Cypher, unfortunately died in 2020, after struggling with an opioid addiction
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
