David Van Cortlandt Crosby

David Van Cortlandt Crosby was born in Los Angeles to Oscar-winning cinematographer Floyd Crosby. In 1964, he co-founded The Byrds with Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark, pioneering folk-rock and raga-rock with chart-topping recordings of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and Pete Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn!".

After being fired from The Byrds in 1967, Crosby formed Crosby, Stills & Nash with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash in Joni Mitchell's Laurel Canyon living room. Their eponymous 1969 debut and performance at Woodstock, followed by Neil Young's addition on the chart-topping Déjà Vu (1970), defined the Woodstock generation with acoustic textures and sublime three-part harmonies. Crosby wrote masterpieces including "Guinnevere," "Wooden Ships," and "Almost Cut My Hair," and released his 1971 psychedelic solo classic If I Could Only Remember My Name. Surviving a 1994 liver transplant, Crosby enjoyed an extraordinary creative resurgence in his seventies, releasing five acclaimed solo albums before his death.