Why David Crosby Can't Stand Ex-Bandmate Graham Nash

Many others may similarly fit the bill, but Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young are among the first bands that may come to mind when one thinks of supergroups whose members just cannot get along. For all the all-time classics they put out during their early '70s heyday, including, but not limited to "Ohio," "Our House," and "Teach Your Children," this was a band where all four members — David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young — were at each other's throats at one point or another in the past five-plus decades. And you better believe that they're still beefing with each other — or at least most of them are. Crosby and Young's feud has been raging for close to a decade as of this writing, and it hasn't shown any signs of letting up.

Aside from Young, Nash is another CSNY member who Crosby hasn't been getting along with lately. During their pre-CSNY days, they were both secondary (or even tertiary) lead vocalists in their respective bands — Crosby didn't get to sing lead on as many Byrds songs as Roger McGuinn or Gene Clark, and across the pond, Nash wasn't featured as prominently as Hollies frontman Allan Clarke. That similarity alone could have theoretically helped them get along famously, and they did, for quite some time. Sadly, that has not been the case in recent years for these two elder statesmen of rock.

It would seem that one of the biggest factors that drove David Crosby and Graham Nash to beef with each other in their golden years was the publication of the latter's autobiography, "Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life" in 2013. "Graham's book is full of inaccuracies and chock-full of misinformation," Crosby told The San Diego Union-Tribune in 2016. "When he handed (an advance copy) to me, he said: 'It's too late to change anything, but here it is.' I was very unhappy about it. It's a very shallow, very self-serving book, and full of b.s. Chock-full."

During the San Diego Union-Tribune interview, the outlet brought up several passages from Nash's book as Crosby explained in great detail why the claims his former bandmate made were inaccurate. He was especially unhappy with a passage where Nash told the story of how the onetime Byrds mainstay would multitask on tour by smoking pot, rolling joints, drinking some booze, conducting business on the phone, and getting pleasured by two women, all at the same time, with his hotel room door propped open. By the looks of it, Nash wanted to focus on Crosby's ability to do all these things (and have certain things done to him) simultaneously, but Crosby was apparently offended by the supposed inaccuracies. "It sounds good in his book," he said. "He did that, repeatedly, and said things that were not true, because they would sell the book."

Five years after that San Diego Union-Tribune interview, David Crosby was still fuming mad with Graham Nash. Speaking to The Guardian in 2021, Crosby let loose on multiple former CSNY bandmates, proving again that the words "mellowed with age" don't quite apply to him when it comes to certain matters. 

The former Byrds singer-guitarist was unsurprisingly open when talking about his feud with Neil Young, expressing that he has a right to be mad at him; many may recall that back in 2014, Crosby called Young's then-girlfriend (now-wife) Daryl Hannah a "poisonous predator." He also called Young the "most self-centered, self-obsessed, selfish person I know," and again, there were no surprises there. As for Nash, Crosby alleged that "Graham just changed from the guy I thought was my best friend to being a guy that is definitely my enemy."

Crosby didn't go into too much detail regarding his issues with Nash and didn't mention the aforementioned autobiography either, but when The Guardian brought up how the Hollies alumnus looked after Crosby during the darkest moments in his life, he vehemently refuted this. "No! He gave the impression of looking after me, but apparently that was all just trying to keep the money coming," he countered. Crosby added that he and Nash hadn't talked for "a couple of years," and that was just how he liked it. "I don't want to talk to him," he huffed. "I'm not happy with him at all. To me, that's all ancient history, man."

Lest you think otherwise, David Crosby's ongoing feud with Graham Nash has been anything but one-sided. Not long after he expressed hope that Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (or at least Crosby, Stills & Nash) would continue making music in their older age, Nash told Dutch publication Lust for Life (via Louder) early in 2016 that he no longer has any hope for another CSNY/CSN reunion. "I don't like David Crosby right now," the veteran English rocker elaborated. "He's been awful to me these last two years, just f***ing awful. I've been there and saved his f***ing ass for 45 years –- and he treated me like s***." He also accused Crosby of sending him a series of "nasty emails" and concluded his thoughts on the matter by saying that his ex-bandmate "single-handedly tore the heart out of CSNY and CSN." Ouch.

Nash's negative feelings toward Crosby hadn't changed either with the passing of time. In 2019, he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Far Out Magazine) that there have been no discussions regarding a possible CSNY or CSN reunion because nobody in the band was speaking to Crosby. "That's the way it is," he continued. "We have to like and love each other to be able to make great music." One can only hope against hope that Crosby and Nash (as well as Stephen Stills and Neil Young) could return to a time when they, at the very least, liked each other as bandmates.