David Crosby performed in Los Angeles in 2013.

DNews Entertainment:

Rock legend David Crosby is dead. The musician died "after a long illness" at 81.

This was reported by the U.S. magazine " Variety" on Thursday, citing Crosby's wife, the co-founder of the bands The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The music magazine "Rolling Stone" also reported the death of the U.S. American.

The California native was a founding member of the band The Byrds in the 1960s, with whom he recorded the hits "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn Turn Turn." In 1968, Crosby formed the group Crosby, Stills & Nash with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, who gave a legendary performance a year later at the Wood Music Festival.

David Crosby with his wife Jan Dance at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles (2020).

The group made a legendary appearance at the Woodstock music festival a year later and is known for hits such as "Marrakesh Express."

Together with Neil Young, the superband went by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Crosby also recorded several solo albums. He was twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his artistic achievements.

The musician also made headlines with his dissolute lifestyle. In the 1980s, he spent several months in prison for cocaine and weapons possession. In 1994, he underwent a liver transplant - his liver had been weakened by decades of using drugs like cocaine and heroin.

"I don't know why I'm still alive, while Jimi (Hendrix) and Janis (Joplin) are not," he told Rolling Stone magazine in a 2014 interview. "I've been lucky."