David Crosby rarely held back when it came to speaking his mind. So,
did the rock icon have any regrets? Well, one in particular — and it's not what you might expect.
You may know him best as one of the primary singer/songwriters who made up the Byrds or
as one of the established musicians who joined forces in the late 1960s
to form one of rock 'n' roll's first known supergroups, Crosby, Stills,
Nash & Young. Either way, David Crosby has been a familiar name to rock fans
for close to six decades. Not only because of his singing, songwriting,
and guitar-playing skills but also because of the distinctive mustache he wore since his CSNY days.
Despite the gentle, calming nature of many of his songs with the Byrds and CSNY, Crosby has also
been a fairly controversial individual at times, and he's shared many a hot take even in recent
years. These include a 2017 tweet that seemingly suggested pro wrestling fans are illiterate,
as well as his one-word dismissal of Eddie Van Halen's legacy just days after the guitar
legend's death in October 2020, as reported by Loudwire. His oftentimes tragic past has
also included a long history of drug use, as well as multiple personal tragedies,
including the death of his girlfriend, Christine Hinton, in a car accident in 1969. However,
there's one thing that Crosby himself mentioned as the biggest regret in his life.
Despite playing alongside several all-time great musicians, many of them didn't want
anything more to do with David Crosby — mostly due to the caustic comments he made in the past.
In the 2019 documentary David Crosby: Remember My Name, the veteran rocker admitted that his
difficult personality had estranged him from multiple ex-bandmates. Crosby said in the doc:
"I was not easy."
For those keeping track, that's the voice behind most of the Byrds' biggest hits, as well as
three-fourths of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, who remain at odds with the two-time Rock & Roll
Hall of Famer. Nash said on the documentary that Crosby can't take back some of the nasty things he
said in anger, while Young vowed never to return to CSNY after Crosby insulted his then-girlfriend,
actress Daryl Hannah, by calling her a "purely poisonous predator." Crosby apologized profusely
to Young and Hannah on The Howard Stern Show, though he maintained that he made
those remarks because he was concerned that Young might be taken advantage of.
In his later years, however, Crosby admitted to having regrets,
and also felt he left behind a legacy of burned bridges. The Daily Mail describes how Crosby's
ego and drug use ruined relationships in his early career and led to him being
kicked out of the Byrds in 1967. Speaking to interviewer Cameron Crowe in the documentary,
Remember My Name, Crosby repeatedly points to substance abuse as a regret in and of itself,
aside from how it fueled division between him and other musicians. He said bluntly,
He notably had a heroin addiction and a five-year prison sentence after running
away from a rehab facility. And yet, Crosby didn't merely express regret — he tried to
make good on the time he had. He even went on a recording spree in his latter years.
Crosby also cited his former attitudes toward sex as connected to his bundle
of early-career regret that included substance abuse, ego, and the treatment of those around
him. Ultimate Classic Rock quotes Crosby as saying that sex was once the "main
thing in life" to him. In typically blunt fashion, he said, according to the outlet:
Crosby made these statements in response to a question from a fan on "Ask Croz," a series of
Rolling Stone videos that gave Crosby the chance to give off-the-cuff advice about any topic under
the sun. These videos revealed the same ornery attitude that led others to call him things
like "insufferable." They also reveal a bit of the disarming charm that Crosby displayed for decades,
which served to soften him toward the end of his life and endear him to the public. All in all,
Crosby seemed to have learned from his past mistakes. Moreover,
he demonstrated the desire to make things right.
"I'm looking at the time I have left and I think I should work really hard to make things better."
In the documentary Remember My Name, Crosby had this to say about his former bandmates: