David Crosby has died at the age of 81

American singer-songwriter and guitarist David Crosby has died at the age of 81. This was announced by his wife Jan Dance in a statement to the entertainment magazine Variety. According to her, Crosby had been ill for a long time

In 1964, David Crosby co-founded the folk rock band The Byrds, which made an international breakthrough a year later with their cover of Bob Dylan's composition Mr. Tambourine Man. That became a number one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100. This was followed by big hits like All I Really Want To Do, Turn! Turn! Turn, Set You Free This Time, Eight Miles High, Fifth Dimension, So You Want To Be A Rock N Roll Star, Mr. Spaceman and My Back Pages. Crosby recorded six albums with The Byrds and left the band in 1968 after a disagreement.

In the same year, David founded the famous rock group Crosby, Stills & Nash with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, which won a Grammy Award as “Best New Act” in 1969. In that year, singer-songwriter Neil Young also joined the group for live performances and changed the group name to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Their 1970 joint album Deja Vu went all over the world and also reached the top of the album chart in the Netherlands. The album sold over 14 million copies worldwide and includes timeless songs such as Teach Your Children, Woodstock, Our House, Carry O, Helpless, and Allmost Cut My Hair. David Crosby wrote the title track Deja Vu and the beautiful Almost Cut My Hair

Soon after this success, the band disintegrated due to tensions between the group members, although the four musicians continued to meet periodically for gigs and albums until 2015. One constant was their progressive and pacifist stance: Crosby always spoke out against US interference in Vietnam in the sixties and seventies. David Crosby made great solo albums like If I Could Only Remember Your Name (1971) and Oh Yes I C (1989). In 2006, the quartet reunited for their tour, Freedom of Speech, in protest against the US presence in Iraq. David Crosby had battled health problems for decades, partly due to excessive drinking and drug use. In 1985, he was jailed for nine months for drug possession. In 1994, he was successfully performed a liver transplant. He also had been struggling with diabetes for decades.