David Crosby has accepted some of the responsibility for the ongoing contentious relationship between himself and his former CSNY bandmates, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young.

“I let all three of those guys down, totally, by becoming a junkie,” Crosby admitted to radio host Howard Stern. “That’s where I really did hurt them. Not dissing their girlfriend or pissing them off. I actually did harm. And for that I’ve apologized a million times. And the best apology I could make was to beat it and to come up and be useful again.”

Crosby was infamously arrested in 1982 from drug and firearms possession and was sentenced to five years in prison. The rocker had been a known cocaine user for many years, with the habit getting so bad that most of the money he made from music went towards his addiction. Though CSNY had suffered through many instances of turmoil -- including infighting, disbanding and reforming and the drug use of its other members -- Crosby’s jail time delivered a serious blow to the band.

“I did harm to the group,” he confessed. “I pretty much destroyed it right then.”

CSNY reformed following Crosby’s release, delivering the 1988 album American Dream. They’d be on-and-off-again for the better part of three decades, occasionally touring, recording, fighting and breaking up in an ongoing cycle of discourse.

“We all three hurt each other over and over again,” Crosby admitted. “All of us did horrible stuff to each other.”

These days, Crosby remains estranged from his former bandmates, though he does “talk to Stephen [Stills],” referring to him as "the best guy in the band." The rocker confirmed that he does not hear from Young, the fallout from a 2016 incident when he insulted his girlfriend, Daryl Hannah. Meanwhile, Crosby bemoaned that Nash “seems to think that I’m responsible for everything wrong since the Korean War.”

Despite the many years of drama, Crosby insists he holds no ill will towards his former bandmates.

“I have no beef with any of them,” the rocker insisted. “I hope they’re all ok. I want them to be happy.”

As for a possible reconciliation, the Crosby has his doubts. “I don’t think it’s in the cards,” he asserted. “I haven’t sensed it from either of those guys.”

 

Top 100 '70s Rock Albums

More From Classic Rock Q107