By Brian Ives
Rock bands aren’t necessarily designed to last forever, but it seemed like Crosby Stills and Nash (and sometimes Young) was one that would continue on as long as the individual members were still singing and playing.
But that isn’t to be, at least according to a recent interview Graham Nash did with Billboard (and an earlier one with Dutch magazine Lust for Life). In it, he said, “I don’t like David Crosby right now. He’s been awful for me the last two years, just f—ing awful. I’ve been there and saved his f—ing ass for 45 years, and he treated me like s—. You can’t do that to me. You can do it for a day or so, until I think you’re going to come around. When it goes on longer, and I keep getting nasty emails from him, I’m done. F— you. David has ripped the heart out of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.”
While it’s unclear what, exactly, Crosby did to upset Nash so much (outside of sending some “nasty emails” that Nash referred to). But clearly, whatever it was, it really offended him. The two have been playing together in bands since Crosby Stills and Nash formed in 1968; the group would expand to include Neil Young over the years. At other times, Crosby and Nash have gone Stills-less by recording and touring as a duo, and they’ve also guested on each other’s solo albums in the past.
That certainly changed; Nash told Radio.com in a recent interview that “I didn’t want to work with David and Stephen on this record. I just didn’t,” referring to his upcoming album, This Path Tonight. Although he didn’t describe his relationship with them (or with Crosby) as being in jeopardy. “I need a rest from them, quite frankly.” He also mentioned that he hadn’t spoken with Crosby since the last CSN gig, which was at the Christmas Tree Lighting in Washington DC in December of 2015.
When the subject of the rift between Crosby and Neil Young came up in the interview, Nash was notably annoyed. (To recap: in an interview, Crosby had referred to Young’s new girlfriend, Daryl Hannah, as a “purely poisonous predator”; Young responded by telling an audience, “CSNY will never tour again, ever.”) “You can’t insult Neil Young personally like that and hope to get away with it,” Nash said.
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