David Van Cortlandt Crosby was an American musician and singer-songwriter.
55 Facts About David Crosby
2.
David Crosby appeared on the Byrds' first five albums and the original lineup's 1973 reunion album.
3.
David Crosby released eight solo albums, albeit sporadically, over the course of his career.
4.
David Crosby appeared frequently on recordings by other artists, including Joni Mitchell, Jefferson Airplane, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, and David Gilmour.
5.
David Crosby's combined work with the Byrds and CSNY has sold over 35 million albums.
6.
David Crosby was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: once for his work in the Byrds and again for his work with CSN.
7.
David Crosby was an occasional actor, appearing as a member of Captain Hook's pirate crew in Hook.
8.
David Van Cortlandt Crosby was born in Los Angeles, California, the second son of Academy Award-winning cinematographer Floyd Crosby, who formerly worked on Wall Street, and Aliph Van Cortlandt Whitehead, a salesperson at Macy's department store.
9.
David Crosby finished high school via correspondence courses from the Cate School in Carpinteria.
10.
David Crosby briefly attended Carpinteria Union High School in 1958.
11.
At CUHS David Crosby was given the lead in the Junior Class Play.
12.
David Crosby briefly studied drama at Santa Barbara City College before dropping out to pursue a career in music.
13.
David Crosby performed with singer Terry Callier in Chicago and Greenwich Village, but the duo failed to obtain a recording contract.
14.
David Crosby joined them, and they were augmented by drummer Michael Clarke, at which point David Crosby attempted, unsuccessfully, to play bass.
15.
Late in 1964, Chris Hillman joined the band as bassist, and David Crosby relieved Gene Clark of rhythm guitar duties.
16.
David Crosby took the opportunity to hone his craft and soon became a relatively prolific songwriter, collaborating with McGuinn on the up-tempo "I See You" and penning the ruminative "What's Happening".
17.
In particular, David Crosby was adamant that the band should record only original material despite the recent commercial failure of "Lady Friend", a David Crosby-penned single that stalled at No 82 on the American charts following its release.
18.
In 1973, David Crosby reunited with the original Byrds for the album Byrds, with David Crosby acting as the album's producer.
19.
David Crosby co-wrote "Wooden Ships" with Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane and Stills.
20.
David Crosby was devastated, and he began abusing drugs more severely than he had before.
21.
In December 1969, David Crosby appeared with CSNY at the Altamont Free Concert, increasing his visibility after having performed at the Monterey International Pop Festival and Woodstock.
22.
In 1971, David Crosby released his first solo album, If I Could Only Remember My Name, featuring contributions by Nash, Young, Joni Mitchell, and members of Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, and Santana.
23.
David Crosby participated in composer Ned Lagin's proto-ambient project Seastones along with members of the Grateful Dead and of Jefferson Starship.
24.
David Crosby worked with Phil Collins occasionally from the late 1980s to the early 1990s.
25.
In 1992, David Crosby sang backup on the album Rites of Passage with the Indigo Girls on the tracks Galileo and Let it Be Me.
26.
In January 2014, David Crosby released his first solo album in 20 years, Croz, recorded in close collaboration with his son James Raymond at the latter's home studio.
27.
On July 14,2016, David Crosby announced a new solo album named Lighthouse, which was released on October 21,2016, and shared a new track from it titled "Things We Do for Love".
28.
David Crosby spoke out against Donald Trump during the latter's presidential campaign.
29.
In September 2017, David Crosby announced a solo album entitled Sky Trails, again with Raymond, to be released on September 29,2017, on BMG.
30.
On October 26,2018, David Crosby released Here If You Listen on BMG, his first collaborative album with League, Stevens, and Willis, all members of the Lighthouse band.
31.
Crosby was the subject of the documentary film David Crosby: Remember My Name which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
32.
In July 2021, David Crosby released what would become his final studio album, For Free.
33.
The result, David Crosby's final release, was a live album recorded during the band's tour, Live at the Capitol Theatre, released October 4,2022.
34.
David Crosby had a son, James Raymond, with Celia Crawford Ferguson in 1962, who was placed for adoption and later reunited with David Crosby as an adult.
35.
David Crosby's body was found months later in May 1998.
36.
In January 2000, Melissa Etheridge announced that David Crosby was the sperm donor of two children with her partner Julie Cypher by means of artificial insemination.
37.
In 2018, David Crosby was invited to join the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws advisory board.
38.
On Twitter in 2019, David Crosby said that the late Peter Tork of the Monkees loaned him the money to buy the Mayan.
39.
David Crosby identified as a pacifist and was a well-known opponent of US participation in the Vietnam War, although he defended the right to own guns.
40.
David Crosby strongly criticized the presidency of Donald Trump, declaring him to be "a dangerous guy who's got a big ego".
41.
David Crosby sang the Danny Sheridan composition "Roll On Down" on that episode.
42.
David Crosby was on an episode of Ellen called "Ellen Unplugged", in which he was helping out at the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp.
43.
David Crosby appeared as a pirate in the 1991 film Hook, as a 1970s hippie in the 1991 film Backdraft, and as a bartender in the 1992 film Thunderheart.
44.
David Crosby voiced himself on two episodes of The Simpsons, "Marge in Chains" and "Homer's Barbershop Quartet".
45.
David Crosby spent nine months in a Texas state prison after being convicted of several drugs and weapons offenses in 1985.
46.
Later in 1985, David Crosby was arrested in California for drunken driving, a hit-and-run driving accident, and possession of a concealed pistol and drug paraphernalia.
47.
On March 7,2004, David Crosby was charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, illegal possession of a hunting knife, illegal possession of ammunition, and illegal possession of about one ounce of marijuana.
48.
David Crosby left the items behind in his New York City hotel room.
49.
Mr David Crosby was arrested when he returned to the hotel to pick up his bag.
50.
David Crosby pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to attempted criminal possession of a weapon on July 4,2004; he was fined $5,000 and received no jail time.
51.
David Crosby was discharged by the court on condition that he pay his fine and not get arrested again.
52.
David Crosby was the recipient of a highly publicized liver transplant, paid for by Phil Collins, in 1994.
53.
In February 2014, at the urging of his doctor, David Crosby postponed the final dates of his solo tour to undergo a cardiac catheterization and angiogram, based on the results of a routine cardiac stress test.
54.
David Crosby died in Santa Ynez, California, on January 18,2023, at the age of 81.
55.
However, friends and colleagues described his death as "sudden", saying that David Crosby had remained active until the day of his death, working on plans for a tour and a new album.