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The one singer David Crosby always wanted to reconnect with: “It’s a shame”
David Crosby spent much of his career burning bridges with fellow musicians through his blunt, often self-destructive behaviour, and by the end of his life he expressed regret over several relationships he never managed to repair. Chief among these was his estrangement from former Byrds bandmate Roger McGuinn, a rift stemming from conflicts in the 1960s that neither man ever fully resolved, despite Crosby's later efforts to reconcile with various other collaborators.
Crosby credited his own jazz influences with helping shape McGuinn's guitar solo on the Byrds' "Eight Miles High", and said he wished the pair could have made music together again, calling it "a shame he doesn't want to work with me again". While Crosby went on to collaborate with numerous other artists, including Phil Collins in the 1980s and various figures from folk and jazz, McGuinn kept his distance, and the two never reunited musically before Crosby's death in January 2023.
In short
- David Crosby regretted never repairing his rift with Roger McGuinn.
- Their 1960s Byrds-era conflict was never resolved before Crosby's 2023 death.
- Crosby cited McGuinn's "Eight Miles High" solo as proof they could have worked well together.
Explained simply
The Byrds were an American folk-rock band that became prominent in the 1960s. David Crosby and Roger McGuinn were both members; McGuinn played guitar and sang, while Crosby sang and wrote songs.
The two fell out during the band’s early years and did not repair their relationship. Crosby later worked with many other musicians, but he and McGuinn never made music together again before Crosby died in 2023.
Their story matters because the Byrds helped shape the sound of folk rock, and their unresolved rift shows how personal conflicts can outlast a band’s time together.