Crosby, Stills and Nash

Use the Booking Entertainment.com agency to book Crosby, Stills and Nash for your corporate event, private party, fundraiser, college, fair or festival. Submit an Entertainment Request Form and an agent will reply within 24 hours.

The musical partnership of David Crosby (born August 14, 1941), Stephen Stills (born January 3, 1945), and Graham Nash (born February 2, 1942), with and without Neil Young (born November 12, 1945), was not only one of the most successful touring and recording acts of the late '60s, '70s, and early '80s - with the colorful, contrasting nature of the members' characters and their connection to the political and cultural upheavals of the time - it was the only American-based band to approach the overall societal impact of the Beatles.

The group was a second marriage for all the participants when it came together in 1968: Crosby had been a member of the Byrds, Nash was in the Hollies, and Stills had been part of Buffalo Springfield. The resulting trio, however, sounded like none of its predecessors and was characterized by a unique vocal blend and a musical approach that ranged from acoustic folk to melodic pop to hard rock. Crosby, Stills & Nash's debut album, released in 1969, was perfectly in tune with the times, and the group was an instant hit. By the time of their first tour (which included the Woodstock festival), they had added Young, also a veteran of Buffalo Springfield, who maintained a solo career. The first CSNY album, Déjà Vu, was a chart-topping hit in 1970, but the group split acrimoniously after a summer tour. Four Way Street, a live double album issued after the breakup, was another number one hit. (When it was finally released on CD in 1992, it was lengthened with more live material.) In 1974, CSNY reformed for a summer stadium tour without releasing a new record. Nevertheless, the compilation So Far became their third straight number one. Crosby, Stills & Nash re-formed without Young in 1977 for the album CSN, another giant hit. They followed with Daylight Again in 1982, but by then Crosby was in the throes of drug addiction and increasing legal problems. He was in jail in 1985-1986, but cleaned up and returned to action, with the result that CSNY reunited for only their second studio album, American Dream, in 1988.

Crosby, Stills & Nash followed with Live It Up in 1990, and though that album was a commercial disappointment, the trio remained a popular live act; it embarked on a 25th anniversary tour in the summer of 1994 and released a new album, After the Storm.

They began financing recordings themselves, and in 1999 Stills invited Young to guest on a few tracks. Impressed by their gumption, Young increased his level of input, turning the album into a CSNY project, Looking Forward, released on Young's label Reprise Records. With writing credits mostly limited to band members, the disc was better received than the previous three albums, and the ensuing CSNY2K tour in 2000 and the CSNY Tour of America of 2002 were major money-makers.

Crosby, Stills, and Nash, with and without Young, left a major imprint in terms of both business practices and on the course of the rock and roll during their 1970s heyday. The flexibility and recombitant aspects of their aggregation forced the record companies to accommodate their dictates, rather than the other way around as was still often the norm, shifting the balance of power in the industry a bit more toward the performers, even though that shift did not become permanent. They utilized their visibility as a platform to speak out against injustices, said practice very much a product of their time but still a relatively new phenomenon, far riskier in their day than now. An entire subset of popular music arose in their wake, various topical and personal singer-songwriters embracing the 1960s Haight-Ashbury/Laurel Canyon social and political values the group transmitted into the 1970s. The quality of their work since their inception, and its success, speaks for itself.

CSN was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997; Crosby has also been inducted as a member of the Byrds, and Stills as a member of Buffalo Springfield. Interestingly, Young has been inducted for his solo work and for Buffalo Springfield, but has not been inducted with CSN.

Various compilations of the band's configurations have arrived over the years, the box set being the most comprehensive, and So Far being the most commercially successful. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young have set tour dates for 2006, and individual retrospective sets have been slated for release from David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash.

rock