David Crosby, legendary Crosby, Stills & Nash and Byrds founder, dead at 81

David Crosby, an influential singer-songwriter and a founding member of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, has died. He was 81.

His wife broke the news with “great sadness,” saying the acclaimed musician passed after suffering from an illness for a “long” time, according to Variety.

“It is with great sadness after a long illness, that our beloved David (Croz) Crosby has passed away,” she said in the statement. “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,” she added. “His legacy will continue to live on through his legendary music. Peace, love, and harmony to all who knew David and those he touched. We will miss him dearly.”

She asked for privacy for herself and Crosby’s family as they “grieve” their “profound loss.”

Crosby was the subject of a documentary about his storied life, titled “David Crosby: Remember My Name,” a film he called “brutally honest” in a 2019 interview with The Post.

“It’s about how I became who I am,” he said at the time. “And it isn’t all pretty.”

With the height of rock and roll fame also came, unfortunately, an extensive bout with addiction, struggling with cocaine and alcohol abuse that prompted a liver transplant in the 1990s. Crosby was also arrested in 1982 in Texas for drugs and weapons, resulting in a brief stint in prison in 1986.

In a 2002 interview with The Post, Crosby said he was feeling “very healthy” and talked about receiving a liver donation seven years prior after he was ravaged by incurable hepatitis C.

“I have seven extra years on my life after I was supposed to be dead,” the thankful musician said. “It’s a slow-moving disease, and it’ll take another 20 years for it to kill this liver. I’ll take the 20 years. Hep C is one of the worst problems the world has to face.”

Crosby also famously donated sperm to singer Melissa Etheridge and her former partner, the late Julie Cypher, who became parents to two children, Bailey and Beckett, with his help.

“Melissa and Julie are good people, nice set of values, they’re funnier than s–t, and they got courage,” he told The Post in the 2002 interview. “All rare stuff.”

Etheridge shared a touching tribute to her longtime friend on social media Thursday.

“I am grieving the loss of my friend and Bailey’s biological father, David. He gave me the gift of family. I will forever be grateful to him, Django, and Jan,” she wrote. “His music and legacy will inspire many generations to come. A true treasure.”

He and his fellow bandmates — Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke — comprised the folk-rock quartet the Byrds, but he only lasted in the group from 1964 to 1967.

During his short-lived stint with Byrds, he sang on a number of the band’s hits including “Mr. Tambourine Man” – the EP of the same name topped charts – and “Turn! Turn! Turn!“

Upon meeting Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, the trio formed the later-multi-platinum Crosby, Stills & Nash. Then, Neill Young joined to make Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

His success earned him two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, once as a member of the Byrds in ’91, and again in ’97 for being a member of Crosby, Stills & Nash.

Following his pre-2000s fame and split from the band, he went on to tour and record music as a solo act.

His latest collaborative album was “Live at the Capitol Theatre,” which featured the track “1974,” a “long-lost demo track” that resurfaced.

Last summer, Crosby even admitted that he was “too old” to be rocking out onstage any longer.

“I think I’m too old to tour anymore….sadly,” the singer revealed on Twitter.

He last performed in February 2022 — the first time in three years — during a surprise set in Santa Barbara, California.

“Was soooooooooo goooood to play with people who love it,” Crosby tweeted after the gig.

Crosby briefly pulled his catalog of music from Spotify last year as a protest against controversial podcaster Joe Rogan.

This is a developing story.