David Crosby, iconic folk rock singer-songwriter, dead at age 81

David Crosby, the influential singer-songwriter who cofounded The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, has died, his representative confirmed to Variety. He was 81.

Crosby's iconic career spanned seven decades. He wrote or cowrote several fan favorites with each of his bands, including "Eight Miles High" for The Byrds, "Wooden Ships" for Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) and "Almost Cut My Hair" for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY), the iteration of CSN which included Neil Young.

He released eight solo albums, two of which — 1971's "If I Could Only Remember My Name" and 2014's "Croz" — entered the Billboard 100 charts.

Crosby first earned success with the Byrds in 1965 when the band scored a number one hit with its cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man." But in 1967, amid rising tension between Crosby and his fellow bandmates, including anger over his appearance onstage with Buffalo Springfield at the Monterey Pop Festival, he was dismissed from the Byrds.

He soon joined up with Buffalo Springfield's Stephen Stills and the Hollies' Graham Nash to form CSN. The group's self-titled debut was well received, earning favorable reviews and reaching number six on the Billboard charts. Two of the album's singles, "Marrakesh Express" and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" also entered the Top 40 charts.

CSN's second-ever live performance was famously at the Woodstock music festival in 1969. Crosby announced to the crowd, which has been estimated to have been as large as 500,000 people, "This is our second gig." Stills followed that up by informing the audience, "We're scared s—less."

Neil Young, who Crosby had filled in for at the Monterey Pop Festival, joined the band in 1969 — prompting them to change the group's name to CSNY. The group released the album "Deja Vu" in 1970, which reached number one on the Billboard pop chart and spawned three more Top 40 hits.

"It is with a deep and profound sadness that I learned that my friend David Crosby has passed." Nash wrote Thursday on Facebook. "I know people tend to focus on how volatile our relationship has been at times, but what has always mattered to David and me more than anything was the pure joy of the music we created together, the sound we discovered with one another, and the deep friendship we shared over all these many long years. David was fearless in life and in music. He leaves behind a tremendous void as far as sheer personality and talent in this world. He spoke his mind, his heart, and his passion through his beautiful music and leaves an incredible legacy. These are the things that matter most. My heart is truly with his wife, Jan, his son, Django, and all of the people he has touched in this world."

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