Look: Life and times of singing icon David Crosby

David Crosby, who died at 81 on January 20, wrote only a handful of widely known songs, but the witty and ever opinionated Crosby was on the front lines of the cultural revolution of the ’60s and ’70s — whether triumphing with Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young on stage at Woodstock, testifying on behalf of a hirsute generation in his anthem 'Almost Cut My Hair' or mourning the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 'Long Time Gone.'

Crosby became a star in the mid-1960s with the seminal folk-rock group The Byrds, known for such hits as 'Turn! Turn! Turn!' and 'Mr. Tambourine Man.' Clean-cut and baby-faced at the time, he contributed harmonies that were a key part of the band’s innovative blend of The Beatles and Dylan. Crosby was among the first American stars to become close to The Beatles, and helped introduce George Harrison to Eastern music. He was also founder and focus of the Los Angeles rock music community from which performers such as the Eagles and Jackson Browne later emerged.

Troubled relations with bandmates pushed Crosby out of The Byrds and into a new group. Crosby, Stills and Nash's first meeting is part of rock folklore: Stills and Crosby were at Joni Mitchell’s house in 1968, working on the ballad “You Don’t Have to Cry,” when Nash suggested they start over again. Nash’s high harmony added a magical layer to Stills' rough bottom and Crosby’s mellow middle and a supergroup was born.

Their eponymous debut album was an instant success that helped redefine commercial music. The songs were longer and more personal than their individual prior outputs, yet easily relatable for an audience also embracing a more open lifestyle. Their spirited harmonies and themes of peace and love became emblematic of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their version of the Mitchell song “Woodstock” was the theme for the documentary about the 1969 rock concert during which the group made only its second live appearance together. Crosby had produced Mitchell’s first album, “Song to a Seagull,” in 1968, and for a time was her boyfriend.

He lived years longer than even he expected and in his 70s enjoyed a creative renaissance, issuing several solo albums while collaborating with others, including his son James Raymond, who became a favorite songwriting partner. “Most guys my age would have done a covers record or duets on old material,” he told Rolling Stone in 2013, shortly before “Croz” was released. “This won’t be a huge hit. It’ll probably sell nineteen copies. I don’t think kids are gonna dig it, but I’m not making it for them. I’m making it for me. I have this stuff that I need to get off my chest.”

Crosby’s seemingly lifetime bond with Nash eventually dissolved. Crosby was angered by Nash’s 2013 memoir “Wild Tales” (whiny and dishonest, he called it) and relations between the two spilled into an ugly public feud, with Nash and Crosby agreeing on one thing: Crosby, Stills and Nash was finished. Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president did lead Crosby to suggest that he was open to a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young protest tour, but his old bandmates declined to respond.

In 2019, Crosby was featured in the documentary “David Crosby: Remember My Name,” produced by Cameron Crowe.