The Pop Corporation

Bona fide legend and founding member of two of America’s greatest ever groups, David Crosby, has passed away aged a remarkable 81.

Founding member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, Croz has left a musical footprint that’ll take some filling.

His wife released a statement to Variety: “It is with great sadness after a long illness, that our beloved David (Croz) Crosby has passed away. He was lovingly surrounded by his wife and soulmate Jan and son Django. Although he is no longer here with us, his humanity and kind soul will continue to guide and inspire us. His legacy will continue to live on through his legendary music. Peace, love, and harmony to all who knew David and those he touched. We will miss him dearly. At this time, we respectfully and kindly ask for privacy as we grieve and try to deal with our profound loss. Thank you for the love and prayers.”

The death may come as a surprise to many, as he was still being feisty and fun on Twitter hours before the news broke. Equally surprising is how Croz managed to see the 8th decade of his life in the first place, given the sheer hedonism of much of it. A true soul survivor indeed.

Ever candid, Crosby was making LPs again, stating: “I’ve been making records at a startling rate. … Now I’m 80 years old so I’m gonna die fairly soon. That’s how that works. And so I’m trying really hard to crank out as much music as I possibly can, as long as it’s really good… I have another one already in the can waiting.”

In the 2018 documentary, ‘David Crosby: Remember My Name’, he touched on his mortality, and narrator/producer Cameron Crowe said Croz was thinking “’telling the truth in my last huge interview that I’ll probably ever do’…”

In recent years, Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen (a fave of Croz) wrote a song for him, finding Crosby in fine form.

Of course, away from solo work, he’ll be best remember for his time in The Byrds and CSN.

After a false start, Croz’s soaring voice first really exploded with the Byrds with their take on ‘Mr Tambourine Man’, topping the charts Stateside.

Huge LPs and singles followed that were either hits or massively influential on those that followed.

Tensions grew within The Byrds and soon, Croz found himself in Laurel Canyon with Stephen Stills, soon to be joined by Graham Nash.

The group’s self-titled album was a critical and commercial smash. Soon, Woodstock would appear with Neil Young in tow.

As the years went on, Crosby’s appetites would begin to catch up with him. A steady diet of cocaine, heroin, and an eventual arrest thanks to a freebasing pipe and a handgun saw him sent to the slammer.

A unlikely survivor, maybe, but one of the greatest to ever do it. Inducted twice into the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame, sometimes brutally honest, and right ’til the end, one of the biggest music nuts in the world and still able to dish it out with the best of them.

A remarkable talent and an even more remarkable man.

Rest in power, Croz.