Graham Nash on why Stills, Nash & Young ‘will never play again’

Stills, Nash & Young fans, prepare yourselves for a sea of sadness.

Graham Nash, 82, has revealed that Stills, Nash & Young “will never play again” as a band — and he attributes the reason to the death of David Crosby.

“There’s no heart there,” Nash told Rolling Stone in an interview published on Wednesday. “David was the center of it all, as crazy as he was. And my God, he was crazy. But he was the heart of this band. And that’s why I think that if Stephen and Neil and I ever played together, people would be missing Crosby. We would be missing Crosby. It just would be a much colder scene.”

Nash and Crosby’s relationship was turbulent at times; however, they remained in contact until David’s passing in Jan. 2023 at 81, after a “long illness,” his wife, Jan’s statement to Variety read at the time.

In his interview, Nash reminisced about the good old days.

“I really miss him,” the singer shared with Rolling Stone. “I miss him more every day because life is choices, and I only choose to remember the good times that David and I had, the good music that we made together. When I try and think about the bad things that happened, I don’t want to do that. I made the choice to only remember the good stuff.”

Nash also believed the band would have reconciled had Crosby not passed away, revealing they were in talks until he got sick.

“Yes, there’s no doubt about it,” he responded when asked about the possible reunion. “We were emailing, and he voicemailed me, and then I set up a FaceTime meeting with him because I wanted us to be able to look at each other when we were talking. And then he got Covid. I wasn’t feeling very well, and we missed that date. And a couple of days later he passed.”

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s last performance together as a full band was in December 2015. Stills and Young have continued to perform as a duo and recently headlined the second Harvest Moon charity concert on Oct. 5 in Lake Hughes, Calif.

The band went from three members, Crosby, Stills and Nash, to four in 1969 when they added singer-songwriter Neil Young. Their best-selling album, Déjà Vu, was released the following year, selling more than eight million copies with hits like “Woodstock”, “Teach Your Children”, and “Our House.” 

The group broke up in the ’70s due to a mixture of conflicting egos, tension and drugs, but continued to play together randomly throughout the years.

Nash is the only original band member consistently performing Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young songs. Despite fans likely never seeing the remaining trio on stage together again, Nash made it clear that he’s still enjoying rocking out.

“I want my audience to know two things. One, that I want to be there making music for them. I’m not going to phone it in,” he shared. “I’m not going to do it half-assed. Secondly, I’m going to sing the same songs that I’ve done a million times with the same passion I had when I wrote them. And I believe that I owe that to my audience.”

When Crosby died, Nash paid tribute to him on Instagram, saying he “was fearless in life and in music.”

“I know people tend to focus on how volatile our relationship has been at times, but what has always mattered to David and me more than anything was the pure joy of the music we created together, the sound we discovered with one another, and the deep friendship we shared over all these many long years,” he wrote.

“He spoke his mind, his heart, and his passion through his beautiful music and leaves an incredible legacy.”