Closer USA – August 05, 2019

The

legendary

rocker tells

Closer

about

overcoming

addiction,

making

peace with

his past

and finding

happiness

D

avidCrosbyis luckyto be

alive.A fterco-founding

the ByrdsandCrosby,

Stills,Nash&Young,the

si nger-song writerwent

fr ombighitslike“Eight

Miles High”to theshockinglowsof heroin

addiction andmonthsspentin prisonon

narcotics andweaponscharges.“I was

supposed tobe dead20 yearsago,”David,77,

admits. Nearlyeverywildturnin hislifehas

been capturedin thenewdocumentaryDavid

Crosby: RememberMy Name. Asthefilmhits

theaters, Davidopensup toCloserabouthis

turbulent affairwithJoniMitchell,fathering

Melissa EtheridgeandJulieCypher’s

children viaartificialinsemination,andthe

unlikely heroin hisstory:hiswifeof 32 years,

Jan Dance. “I’mbetterat lovingJanthanI

was the others,”Davidconfides.“She’snot

perfect, andneitheramI, butwe do reallylove

Yournewfilmis a prettyintenseride.

Whatdid youthinkof it?

Itwasgritty,butI’mprettyhappywithit.

[Producer/interviewer]CameronCrowe’s

knownme sincehe was15.In [hisfilm]

AlmostFamous, hewasthekid,we werethe

band.So he’sseenit all,right?Thatmeant

therewasa highdegreeof honesty—he gave

menowhereto hide.

UntilI sawthefilm,I hadno ideayou

wereclosewiththeBeatles....

TheyknewabouttheByrdsas soonas we

had a hitwith“Mr.TambourineMan.”They

knewthatwe weretryingto changethings,

sotheywereextremelykindto us.They

saida lotof reallykindthingsaboutus that

helpedus getstarted,andwhenwe wentto

England,theybefriendedus andhadus over.

Wehaddinner,we talked,we jammed....

Amazing.How’syourrelationshipwith

yourex Joni Mitchellthesedays?

I had dinnerat herhousea couplemonths

backandwe talked.AndI loveher.I don’t

thinkshe’shappywithme,butI don’tthink

she’sreallyhappywithanybody.I loveher

dearly,andI thinkshecertainlywasthebest

si nger-songwriterof all of us.

Inthefilmthere’sa greatstoryyoutell

abouthowshebrokeup withyouby

pl ayinga songat a dinner....

“ThatSongAbouttheMidway”—it washer

goodbyesongto me.

Whatdo yourecallfromthatmoment?

The lookon herfacewhenshefinished

si ngingthesong,lookingrightat me,and

thenshestartedandsangit again.

SAVED ME

How Love

With(fromleft)StephenStills,

GrahamNashandNeilYoungat

London’sWembleyStadiumin 1974

MAIN PHOTO BY ANNA WEBBER

DAVID CROSBY

CLOSERWEEKLY.COM 45