Reuters
NOS News•
American singer and guitarist David Crosby has died at the age of 81. This has been reported by his wife a statement to entertainment magazine Variety. According to her, Crosby had been ill for a long time, and he died “in the loving presence of his wife and soulmate Jan and his son Django.”
Crosby co-founded the folk rock band The Byrds in 1964, who broke through a year later with their cover of Bob Dylan’s song Mr. Tambourine Man. It became a number 1 hit in the US. He went on to record five more albums with The Byrds, and left the band in 1968 after a fight.
mr. Tambourine Man, in the performance of The Byrds:
Crosby founded the rock group Crosby, Stills & Nash that same year, which won a 1969 Grammy for Best New Artist. That year also saw singer-songwriter Neil Young join the group for live performances, changing the group name to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Their collaborative album Deja vu from 1970 became a hit worldwide, and also reached the top of the album chart in the Netherlands. It has been sold more than 14 million times worldwide.
Soon after, the band broke up due to tensions between the group members, though they continued to reunite periodically for performances and albums until 2015. A constant was their progressive and pacifist stance: Crosby has always spoken out against American involvement in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2006, the foursome reunited for their tour Freedom of Speech, in protest against the US presence in Iraq.
David Crosby had been struggling with health problems for decades, partly as a result of excessive alcohol and drug use. In 1985 he was imprisoned for nine months for drug possession. In 1994 he successfully underwent a liver transplant. He has also struggled with diabetes for decades.
