Neil Young praises David Crosby: ‘I love you, man’

CNN
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Legendary rocker Neil Young paid tribute to his former Crosby bandmate, Stills, Nash & Young David Crosby.

“David is gone, but his music lives on. The spirit of CSNY and David’s voice and energy have been at the heart of our band,” the statement said. Posted on Young’s websiteRead.

Crosby family Thursday announced his death At the age of 81.

Young’s tribute continued: “His great songs represented what we believed in, and it was always fun and exciting when we played together.” “We had so many great times, especially in the early years. Crosby was a very supportive friend in my early life, bringing together big parts of our experience. David was a catalyst for so many things.”

Young concluded, “Thanks David for your soul and songs, I love you man. I remember the best of times!”

Young and Crosby’s paths crossed in 1970 when Young joined Crosby, Stills & Nash. The band was then known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and went on to release “déjà vu” which included the hit song “Woodstock”.

The pioneers of rock music weren’t always on the same page, despite the many stages they shared.

“When you meet, when you start a band, you’re really in love with each other,” Crosby said CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in 2019. “Forty years later, when you’ve been doing it for forty years and it’s developed to just turn on the smoke machine and play your songs, it’s not exciting musically, it’s not fun and we weren’t friends.”

Amanpour brought up the question of Crosby possibly mending his friendship with his former CSNY bandmates, to which Crosby replied, “I’d love to.”

Stephen Stills and Graham Nash have also paid tribute to Crosby.

“It is the memory of such a unique and full life so well lived that should sustain us through this period of deep grief,” statment.

Stills added that “David lived a life of deep and abiding gratitude and was an extraordinary, rich being,” going on to say that “his music will live on through all of us.”

Nash reflected on their sometimes “volatile” relationship in tribute Posted on Facebook, Adding that “what has always interested me in David more than anything else is the pure joy of the music we’ve created together.”