David Crosby Talks Son's Death, Tendonitis, More In New Rolling Stone Interview

2020 was supposed to be a positive year for David Crosby. The famous guitarist and singer once part of the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young folk-rock supergroup launched a new podcast alongside noted Deadhead Steve Silberman with Freak Flag Flying, and was scheduled to embark on a run of shows with Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit before the live events industry came to a sudden standstill in March due to COVID-19.

The 78-year-old has now opened up about the personal struggles which he’s had to face since the start of the year in a new interview published to Rolling Stone earlier this week with sensitive subjects ranging from the recent death of his biological son due to a drug overdose, his inability to play guitar due to tendonitis, the Black Lives Matter protests and more.

“I didn’t get to raise that kid and I didn’t mean to raise that kid, but he was here many times,” Crosby said in relation to his late biological son who was raised by Melissa Etheridge and her partner Julie Cypher. “I loved him and he loved me and he was family to me. [Pause.] It’s hard. You’re not supposed to have your kids die before you die. That’s a real punch in the face. It’s like a train hits you and then you have to get back up. So I’m having a hard time. It’s a real hard one and I haven’t yet cried and I’m gonna and it’s hard.”

“In the middle of all that, I get trigger-finger tendonitis in my hands,” Crosby continued in discussing his own recent medical ailments. “I went in to get it fixed and it didn’t work. Now I’m in a tremendous amount of pain in my right hand. It’s entirely possible that I may never play guitar again … I’m having a hard time keeping my goddamn head above water. I’m a pretty positive guy. I’ve been through a lot. I mean, a lot. I’ve been tested a lot. And it’s hard to slug me down. You punch me, OK, I can’t really fight back. I’m old. But I’ll get back up. And I have been. But I’m loaded up good, man. I’ve got more on my plate then I can handle and I have been crying. I’ll admit it.

To make things worse for the aging musician, his financial state isn’t quite what someone with his resume of success would want heading into the twilight years.

“They don’t pay me for records anymore,” Crosby continued in discussing his lack of earnings without the ability to perform live. Even for a musician as famous and successful as Crosby has been throughout his career, this period without live events is hurting event the biggest of names in music. “It’s like you did your job at Rolling Stone for a month and they paid you a nickel. That’s half my income gone and now there’s the other half, gone. I don’t have any savings. I haven’t been making any money to put savings away. I have lost both of my income streams for a year. And I don’t know if I’ll be able to go back to work when I go back to work. It’s a bitch. It’s a really hard time … Again, I’m not whining about it. I think it’s what we have to do or we can’t beat the coronavirus, and we have to beat it. But I don’t think most people know what it’s done to the music business. It’s everyone that I know. They’re completely out of work and a lot of them don’t make a lot of money.”

Click here to read the new Rolling Stone interview in full.