At the time of David Crosby’s passing, his family attributed the cause of his death to a “long illness,” in a statement. Now, his former bandmate, Graham Nash, has revealed that the illness he was dealing with was COVID-19.
Videos by American Songwriter
In a new conversation on the Kyle Meredith With… podcast, Nash said, “After three days of rehearsals, he felt a little sick and he’d already had COVID, and he had COVID again. So he went home and decided that he would take a nap, and he never woke up. But he died in his bed, and that is fantastic.
“I mean, the fact that he made it to 81 was astonishing,” he continued. “But it was a shock. It was kind of like an earthquake, you know? You get the initial shock and then you figure out that you survived. But these aftershocks kept coming up, and they’re diminishing in size as I go along.”
A day prior to his death, Crosby had moved to make amends with Nash, sending him a message of reconciliation—though the pair never got to talk one on one.
“He had sent me a voicemail saying that he wanted to talk to apologize, and could we set up a time to talk,” Nash said earlier this year. “I emailed him back and said, ‘Okay, call me at 11 o’clock tomorrow your time, which is two o’clock on the east coast.’ He never called, and then he was gone.”
Nash went on to say that he wants the pair to be remembered for the music they made together and not their rocky relationship through the years.
“I think one of the only things that we can do, particularly me, is only try to remember the good times, try to remember the great music that we made,” Nash said. “I’m only going to be interested in the good times because if I concentrate on the bad times, it gets too weird for me.”
The news of Crosby’s death was announced by his wife, Jan. She wrote, “It is with great sadness after a long illness, that our beloved David (Croz) Crosby has passed away. He was lovingly surrounded by his wife and soulmate Jan and son Django. Although he is no longer here with us, his humanity and kind soul will continue to guide and inspire us.”
Nash is set to release his new album, Now, on May 12. Prior to the release, Nash will hit the road on April 12. The world tour sees him spend most of 2023 in North America before heading overseas to the UK and Europe. Find the full tour dates, HERE.
Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
