David Crosby, the legendary rocker has died

He died at the age of 81 David Crosby, songwriter and guitarist who made the history of folk rock. The causes of death are still unknown and the musician was up to the last on Twitterwhere he was very active, only fearing a return to the scene last December (and also speaking of Paradise: “An overrated place… cloudy“). Born August 14, 1941, son of cinematographer Floyd Crosby (Oscar winner for the 1931 film Taboo), grew up between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, not inclined to study and rather attracted by the world of music from a very young age. After some firsts experiences as a soloist and in folk bands like the Balladeers, success came with the band The Byrdscreated to follow in the footsteps of the Beatles: their first single, a cover of Mr Tambourine Man by Bob Dylan, assured him an immediate first place in the American charts. Volcanic and stubborn personality, Crosby he would soon clash with the other members of the group, which disbanded in 1968.

Soon after, the encounter with two other strong rock names of those years took place, Stephen Stills of the Buffalo Springfields and Graham Nash of the Hollies, with whom he formed the group Crosby, Stills & Nash, whose 1968 self-titled album went multi-platinum and ushered in the era of supergroups. The following year too Neil Young joined the band, contributing to a further affirmation of their songs and above all of their live performances. Here too, however, several clashes between their strong personalities led to friction and division: despite several reunions over the years (including the one at Live Aid in 1985), Crosby continued to work with them in different formations, especially with Nash, but never giving renewed continuity to the group, which however performed in even recent toursthe last of which took place in 2006.