Crosby, Stills & Nash Artistfacts

1968-2015
David CrosbyVocals, guitar
Stephen StillsVocals, guitar, keyboards, bass
Graham NashVocals, guitar, keyboards
All three members had made a mark in other groups when they came together to form Crosby, Stills & Nash. David Crosby had been in The Byrds; Stephen Stills in Buffalo Springfield; and Graham Nash, the only British member, in The Hollies. Much of their first album was comprised of songs they wrote individually and brought to the band, including "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" (Stills), "Marrakesh Express" (Nash), and "Long Time Gone" (Crosby).
Their superpower was their harmony vocals, which they realized the first time they sang together. Stills remembers it taking place at Mama Cass Elliot's dining room; Nash recalls the location as Joni Mitchell's living room.
They're often thought of as quartet with Neil Young, but most of their output was without him; Young was with them for just three of their eight studio albums:

Déjà Vu (1970)
American Dream (1988)
Looking Forward (1999)

Young was also responsible for their 1970 single "Ohio," which was not included on a studio album.
They performed at both the original and the second Woodstock. Their performance at the original Woodstock was only their third show together. They had a few more under their belts the second time around.
Crosby's addictions started overwhelming him in the late '70s. He was arrested a few times and served two prison terms, first from March 7 to May 1, 1985 (he got out in time to play Live Aid with the band) at Dallas County Jail, and again from March 6 to August 8, 1986 at the Texas Department of Correction in Huntsville. The jail sentences doubled as rehab for Crosby - he had no choice but to quit cold turkey. After his second stint, he stayed sober; Crosby says going to jail saved his life.
Crosby, Stills & Nash's final performance was at a White House Christmas tree lighting ceremony broadcast live on television on December 3, 2015. They performed Silent Night and sounded woefully out of tune.

"This was very sad," Nash recalled to Rolling Stone. "Stephen and David ended up fighting after it and I think even Obama had heard something was going on. Basically, it was a national park thing and David was supposed to talk about his favorite park and then I was going to talk about living in Hawaii and my favorite and so on. But David read everyone's lines. Stephen then threw a pick at David. It was over from that moment."

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