David Crosby performs onstage during the International Myeloma Foundation's 7th Annual Comedy Celebration Benefiting The Peter Boyle Research Fund hosted by Ray Romano at The Wilshire Ebell Theatre on November 9, 2013 in Los Angeles, California
AFP

KEY POINTS

  • David Crosby's bandmates, fans and friends paid tribute to him on social media
  • Brian Wilson said he was an unbelievable talent — a great singer and songwriter
  • His former bandmate Graham Nash said they had a volatile relationship but shared pure joy in music

Many celebrities paid tribute to David Crosby on Twitter after his family announced his death.

Crosby, the founder of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash passed away Tuesday. He was 81. The family confirmed his death to Variety, quoting his wife, Jan Dance, as saying, "It is with great sadness after a long illness that our beloved David (Croz) Crosby has passed away."

Following the news of Crosby's death, several celebrities took to social media to pay tribute to him. They shared how the musician touched their lives as a workmate, a friend and a performer.

"Tom counted David Crosby as a friend and a hero. He often visited at his house in the valley. He was funny, provocative and electric with talent. His contribution to music will never be forgotten. Our thoughts and love to his family, bandmates and fans," Tom Petty tweeted.

"I don't know what to say other than I'm heartbroken to hear about David Crosby. David was an unbelievable talent - such a great singer and songwriter. And a wonderful person. I just am at a loss for words. Love & Mercy to David's family and friends. Love, Brian," Brian Wilson added.

"Sometimes I pinch myself when I look back at the people I worked with who I admired as a kid," Danny Deraney wrote. "I repped David Crosby on different occasions. He was his own man. He could be cantankerous, he could be a pussycat. That was Cros. About as real as you could get. Long Time Gone 1969."

"So sad to hear the news about David Crosby. He was a friend. His contribution to American music will live on," Rob Reiner wrote. Ron Baumann added, "RIP David Crosby. You gave me my favorite song of all time."

Crosby's bandmate Stephen Stills also released a statement to Fox News Digital about his passing. According to him, he read a quote in a morning paper attributed to composer Gustav Mahler that stopped him for a moment. The quote read, "Death has, on placid cat's paws, entered the room."

"David and I butted heads a lot over time, but they were mostly glancing blows, yet still left us numb skulls," he told Fox News Digital. "I was happy to be at peace with him. He was without question, a giant of a musician, and his harmonic sensibilities were nothing short of genius. The glue that held us together as our vocals soared, like Icarus, towards the sun. I am deeply saddened at his passing and shall miss him beyond measure."

His former CSNY partner Graham Nash, who has been estranged from him in recent years since they disbanded, also paid tribute to him on Facebook.

"I know people tend to focus on how volatile our relationship has been at times, but what has always mattered to David and me more than anything was the pure joy of the music we created together, the sound we discovered with one another, and the deep friendship we shared over all these many long years," Nash wrote.

He described Crosby as "fearless in life and music" and someone who wasn't afraid to speak his mind, heart and passion through his music and legacy.

"My heart is truly with his wife, Jan, his son, Django, and all of the people he has touched in this world," he concluded.

David Crosby, an influential musical pioneer of the 1960s and 1970s who created a distinctly American brand of folk-rock with the Byrds and later with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, has died
AFP
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