David Crosby, legendary rock musician and songwriter, dies at 81 – National

David Crosby, the legendary singer-songwriter who based a number of the defining rock teams of the Sixties, has died on the age of 81, in response to media stories on Thursday.

Variety shared an announcement from Crosby’s spouse saying the musician died after “a long illness” and was surrounded by his household when he handed.

“Although he is no longer here with us, his humanity and kind soul will continue to guide and inspire us,” the assertion reads. “His legacy will continue to live on through his legendary music.”

Sources near the musician additionally confirmed Crosby’s demise to Rolling Stone and NBC News.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Crosby was a founding member of The Byrds, a pivotal band of the Sixties that mixed rock and folks music. He co-wrote a few of their most notable songs together with “Eight Miles High” and sang on their immensely common covers of “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!”

After leaving the group, he fashioned Crosby, Stills & Nash with fellow superstars Graham Nash and Stephen Stills. The band additional exploded in recognition after bringing Neil Young into the fold to change into Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Both iterations have been recognized for his or her delicate harmonies, songs like “Woodstock” and “Teach Your Children,” and inter-member clashes that led to a number of breakups and reunions over the following many years.

“It is with a deep and profound sadness that I learned that my friend David Crosby has passed,” Nash wrote in a tribute on Instagram.

“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.”

Crosby was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice for his work with The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, in addition to the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

But he continuously admitted in later years that he squandered that acclaim and good will as he fell into drug habit and drove collaborators and supporters away with an abrasive character.

He mentioned within the 2019 documentary David Crosby: Remember My Name that Nash, Stills and Young “really dislike me, strongly,” which stood in the best way of any hopes of working collectively once more.

Rolling Stone known as Crosby “rock’s unlikeliest survivor.” His addictions, which led to arrests and jail time within the Nineteen Eighties for drug possession, culminated in a liver transplant in 1994. He additionally suffered from hepatitis C and diabetes.

In 2004, was arrested on gun and marijuana costs in New York.

“I’m concerned that the time I’ve got here is so short, and I’m pissed at myself, deeply, for the 10 years — at least — of time that I wasted just getting smashed,” Crosby informed the Los Angeles Times in July 2019. “I’m ashamed of that.”

He fell “as low as a human being can go,” Crosby informed the Times.

Through all of it, Crosby continued to make music. He launched a slew of solo albums and collaborations with Nash whereas additionally working with Phil Collins — who paid for the liver transplant — and his personal son James Richmond, who was a longtime band member and writing accomplice.

Crosby fathered 5 different kids, together with two as a sperm donor to rocker Melissa Etheridge’s accomplice.

“He gave me the gift of family,” Ethridge mentioned on Instagram. “His music and legacy will inspire many generations to come. A true treasure.”

He was additionally prolific on social media, the place he continued his outspoken help for environmental causes and disdain for politicians.

His final tweets have been despatched on Wednesday expressing admiration for local weather activist Greta Thunberg after she was arrested at a protest in Germany.

—With recordsdata from Reuters

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