the brash rock musician who evolved from a baby-faced harmony singer with the Byrds to a mustachioed hippie superstar and an ongoing troubadour in Crosby, Stills, Nash & (sometimes) Young, has died at 81, several media outlets reported Thursday.

The New York Times reported, based on a text message from CrosbyB次元官网网址檚 sister in law, that the musician died Wednesday night. Several media outlets reported CrosbyB次元官网网址檚 death citing anonymous sources; The Associated Press was unable to reach CrosbyB次元官网网址檚 representatives and his widow.

Crosby underwent a liver transplant in 1994 after decades of drug use and survived diabetes, hepatitis C and heart surgery in his 70s.

While he only wrote a handful of widely known songs, the witty and ever opinionated Crosby was on the front lines of the cultural revolution of the B次元官网网址�60s and B次元官网网址�70s B次元官网网址� whether triumphing with Stephen Stills, and Neil Young on stage at Woodstock, testifying on behalf of a hirsute generation in his anthem B次元官网网址淎lmost Cut My HairB次元官网网址� or mourning the assassination of Robert Kennedy in B次元官网网址淟ong Time Gone.B次元官网网址�

He was a founder and focus of the Los Angeles rock music community from which such performers as the Eagles and Jackson Browne later emerged. He was a twinkly-eyed hippie patriarch, the inspiration for Dennis HopperB次元官网网址檚 long-haired stoner in B次元官网网址淓asy Rider.B次元官网网址� He advocated for peace, but was an unrepentant loudmouth who practiced personal warfare and acknowledged that many of the musicians he worked with no longer spoke to him.

B次元官网网址淐rosby was a colorful and unpredictable character, wore a Mandrake the Magician cape, didnB次元官网网址檛 get along with too many people and had a beautiful voice B次元官网网址� an architect of harmony,B次元官网网址� Bob Dylan wrote in his 2004 memoir, B次元官网网址淐hronicles: Volume One.B次元官网网址�

CrosbyB次元官网网址檚 drug use left him bloated, broke and alienated. He kicked the addiction in 1985 and 1986 in Texas on drug and weapons charges. The conviction eventually was overturned.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e always said that I picked up the guitar as a shortcut to sex and after my first joint I was sure that if everyone smoked dope thereB次元官网网址檇 be an end to war,B次元官网网址� Crosby said in his 1988 autobiography, B次元官网网址淟ong Time Gone,B次元官网网址� co-written with Carl Gottlieb. B次元官网网址淚 was right about the sex. I was wrong when it came to drugs.B次元官网网址�

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.

B次元官网网址淢ost guys my age would have done a covers record or duets on old material,B次元官网网址� he told Rolling Stone in 2013, shortly before B次元官网网址淐rozB次元官网网址� was released. B次元官网网址淭his wonB次元官网网址檛 be a huge hit. ItB次元官网网址檒l probably sell nineteen copies. I donB次元官网网址檛 think kids are gonna dig it, but IB次元官网网址檓 not making it for them. IB次元官网网址檓 making it for me. I have this stuff that I need to get off my chest.B次元官网网址�

In 2019, Crosby was produced by Cameron Crowe.

While his solo career thrived, his seemingly lifetime bond with Nash dissolved. Crosby was angered by NashB次元官网网址檚 2013 memoir B次元官网网址淲ild TalesB次元官网网址� (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 TrumpB次元官网网址檚 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.

Crosby became a star in the mid-1960s with the seminal folk-rock group The Byrds, known for such hits as B次元官网网址淭urn! Turn! Turn!B次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淢r. Tambourine Man.B次元官网网址� Clean-cut and baby-faced at the time, he contributed harmonies that were a key part of the bandB次元官网网址檚 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.

Troubled relations with bandmates pushed Crosby out of The Byrds and into a new group. Crosby, Stills and NashB次元官网网址檚 first meeting is part of rock folklore: Stills and Crosby were at Joni MitchellB次元官网网址檚 house in 1968 (Stills would contend they were at Mama CassB次元官网网址�), working on the ballad B次元官网网址淵ou DonB次元官网网址檛 Have to Cry,B次元官网网址� when Nash suggested they start over again. NashB次元官网网址檚 high harmony added a magical layer to StillsB次元官网网址� rough bottom and CrosbyB次元官网网址檚 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 B次元官网网址淲oodstockB次元官网网址� 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 MitchellB次元官网网址檚 first album, B次元官网网址淪ong to a Seagull,B次元官网网址� in 1968, and for a time was her boyfriend (as was Nash).

Now wearing the drooping, bushy mustache that would define him ever after, Crosby provided harmony and rhythm guitar, and his songs reflected his own volatile personality. They ranged from the misty-eyed romanticism of B次元官网网址淕uinevere,B次元官网网址� to the spirituality of B次元官网网址淒eja Vu,B次元官网网址� to the operatic paranoia of B次元官网网址淎lmost Cut My Hair.B次元官网网址�

Some critics panned the group as soft-headed and self-indulgent.

B次元官网网址淚f youB次元官网网址檙e into living-room rock, fireplace harmonies and just a taste of good old social consciousness, this is your group,B次元官网网址� reported Rolling Stone, which nonetheless rarely missed a chance to write about the band.

But CSN, as they would soon be called, won a best new artist Grammy and remained a worldwide touring act and brand name decades later.

The first album was an easy, happy recording, but the mood darkened during the second album, B次元官网网址淒eja Vu.B次元官网网址� The band was joined who had feuded with Stills while both were in Buffalo Springfield and continued to do so.

Everyone in the band was troubled: Nash and Mitchell were splitting up, and so were Stills and singer Judy Collins. Crosby, meanwhile, was so devastated by the death of girlfriend Christine Hinton in a car accident, that he would lay on the studio floor and sob.

Featuring a rougher, less unified sound, the album released in 1970 and was another commercial smash. Yet within two years, the quartet had broken up, destined to continuously reunite and splinter for the rest of their lives.

They worked in every combination possible B次元官网网址� as solo artists, as duos, trios and, occasionally, all four together. They played stadiums and clubs. They as the Cold War was ending and turned up in 2011 for the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York.

In recent years, Crosby toured often, and candidly answered questions on Twitter with a blend of affection and exasperation, whether commenting on rock star peers or assessing the quality of a fanB次元官网网址檚 marijuana joint. He loved sailing and his greatest regret, besides hard drugs, was selling his 74-foot boat because of money problems. Among the songs completed on the boat was the classic B次元官网网址淲ooden Ships,B次元官网网址� co-written with Stills and Jefferson AirplaneB次元官网网址檚 Paul Kantner.

Crosby was born David Van Cortlandt Crosby on Aug. 14, 1941, in Los Angeles. His father was Oscar-winning cinematographer Floyd Crosby of B次元官网网址淗igh NoonB次元官网网址� fame. The family, including his mother, Aliph, and brother, Floyd Jr., later moved to Santa Barbara.

Crosby was exposed early to classical, folk and jazz music. In his autobiography, Crosby said that as a child he used to harmonize as his mother sang, his father played mandolin and his brother played guitar.

B次元官网网址淲hen rock B次元官网网址榥B次元官网网址� roll came in during that era and the Age of Elvis possessed America, I wasnB次元官网网址檛 into it,B次元官网网址� he recalled.

His brother taught him to play guitar and, still in his teens, he began performing in Santa Barbara clubs. He moved to Los Angeles to study acting in 1960 but abandoned the idea and became a folk singer, working around the country before joining The Byrds. Like so many folk performers, Crosby was dazzled by the BeatlesB次元官网网址� 1964 movie B次元官网网址淎 Hard DayB次元官网网址檚 NightB次元官网网址� and decided to become a rock star.

Crosby in 1987. The couple had a son, Django, in 1995. Crosby also had a daughter, Donovan, with Debbie Donovan. Shortly after he underwent the liver transplant, Crosby was reunited with Raymond, who had been placed for adoption in 1961. Raymond, Crosby and Jeff Pevar later performed together in a group called CPR.

B次元官网网址淚 regretted losing him many times,B次元官网网址� Crosby told the AP of Raymond in 1998. B次元官网网址淚 was too immature to parent anybody, and too irresponsible.B次元官网网址�

In 2000, Melissa Etheridge revealed that Crosby was the father of the two children she shared with then-partner Julie Cypher. Cypher carried the children Crosby fathered by artificial insemination, Etheridge told Rolling Stone. One son, .

Crosby didnB次元官网网址檛 help raise the children but said, B次元官网网址淚f, you know, in due time, at a distance, theyB次元官网网址檙e proud of who their genetic dad is, thatB次元官网网址檚 great.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擱obert Jablon, The Associated Press