David Crosby's Shocking Net Worth
David Crosby's net worth at the time of his death may not be what you would expect from a rock n' roll icon.
David Crosby's net worth at the time of his death may not be what you would expect from a rock n' roll icon. A combination of addiction, health issues, legal problems and the changing landscape of the music industry caused substantial financial struggles for the music legend, but he ended up in the black before fading to black.
Related: David Crosby Dead at 81
How did David Crosby become famous?
Crosby was the son of Oscar-winning cinematographer Floyd Crosby, a descendant of the wealthy Van Rensselaer family, and Aliph Van Cortlandt Whitehead, the latter of whom was born into another old money Dutch family.
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After a brief stint in college studying theater, David Crosby dropped out to pursue music fulltime, performing with jazz bands and artists in 1962 and recording his first solo effort a year later. In 1964, Crosby teamed up with Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark, Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman to form what would become The Byrds, one of the most influential rock bands ever—complete with an endorsement from the legend Miles Davis. The Byrds released four albums before expelling Crosby for his alleged controlling nature and political views in 1967.
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Crosby formed his most famous band, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, just a year later with Buffalo Springfield frontman Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. They released their debut album in 1969, spawning two Top 40 hits ("Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" and "Marrakesh Express"). Later that year, Neil Young joined on keyboards, forming Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY). Their debut album as CSNY, titled Déjà Vu, sold 8 million copies.
To date, Crosby's work with The Byrds; Crosby, Stills, & Nash and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young has sold more than 35 million copies.
Related: Graham Nash and More Icons Pay Tribute to David Crosby
What is David Crosby's net worth?
David Crosby's net worth was estimated at $10 million at the time of his death in January 2023. His net worth was impacted by both his health issues, including hepatitis C, Type 2 diabetes and substance abuse, and legal problems, including a $3 million settlement after accidentally hitting a jogger with his car in 2015. Crosby also said his ability to earn income on tour was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In March 2020, Crosby told GQ, “I'm sitting here waiting for them to cancel all my tours this summer and put me in deep financial trouble. You know they don't pay us for records anymore, right? So touring is all we got. That's really the only thing that we can do to make any money. And to lose it is just awful.” He added, “I may—honest to God—I may lose my home. I don't know what to do about it, except just try to roll with the punches and keep going. Truthfully, if I lose the tours, I probably will lose my home.”
Once live music opportunities emerged once more following the pandemic's peak, Crosby was still unable to earn much of a living performing. He explained to Rolling Stone, “I keep going back and forth on that. I can’t do a bus tour anymore since I can’t sleep on them anymore; I’m just too old. Also, my guitar playing is a real problem. I can still do it, but I’m down 20 percent from where I was at my best, and it’s deteriorating pretty steadily. If I play again, I’d have to bring another guitar player into the band.”
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How much did David Crosby make for selling his music?
Crosby sold his catalog in 2021 to Irving Azoff's Iconic Artists Group, though the terms and details of the sale were never made public.
Crosby told Rolling Stone of the deal, "That wasn’t a thing I wanted to do, but doing that deal with Irving made it possible for me to not worry about the money.”
He explained that the sale enabled him to pay off his house, which was important to him and his family.
"That was really scary. We were really worried we were going to lose it," he said. "I couldn’t work live, and I couldn’t make any money doing records. That deal made a difference for us. It really helped a lot.”
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How much did David Crosby get for his publishing rights?
Crosby hasn't publicly revealed how much he earned for his publishing rights, save that the sale enabled him to pay off his mortgage.
How much did David Crosby make from streaming?
Crosby claimed to have barely made any money from music streams from his decades of work.
“The streaming companies are making billions of dollars. The numbers are right out there, in the public,” Crosby told Collider. “The three main record companies are making, I was told, $19 million a day, off of streaming, and the artists are getting shafted. It’s as if you did your gig for a month, and they paid you a nickel. They’re paying you, but not enough to live. It isn’t right.”
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Did Phil Collins pay for David Crosby's liver transplant?
This is one rock rumor that's true: Phil Collins did indeed foot the bill for Crosby's 1994 liver transplant.