David Crosby Says Neil Young Is the Most Selfish Person He’s Ever Met

"He only thinks about Neil, period."

David Crosby, pictured at the 2020 Grammys. In a recent interview the singer noted that Neil Young was extremely "selfish."
David Crosby attends the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards on January 26, 2020.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

David Crosby and his former bandmate Neil Young have a long, contentious history, so we shouldn’t be surprised that the former still has plenty to say about the latter. But in a new interview with The Guardian, Crosby gets a bit hyperbolic about Young, calling him the most selfish person he’s ever met.

The musician initially brought up Young while discussing politics. Both Crosby and Young have been outspoken about various political issues throughout the years, and last year Young sued Donald Trump over his campaign’s unauthorized usage of “Rockin’ In the Free World.” But according to Crosby, Young was motivated purely by his own self-interest.

“I’m a very liberal guy and a modern thinker in terms of politics,” he said. “Neil doesn’t really do politics. He does Neil.” When asked to elaborate, he responded, “Well, he’s probably the most self-centered, self-obsessed, selfish person I know. He only thinks about Neil, period. That’s the only person he’ll consider. Ever!” 

Still, he admitted that Young has a legitimate reason to be upset with him, while he doesn’t think former bandmate Graham Nash — with whom he also has a fraught relationship — has any right to be mad.

“Neil has got a genuine beef,” he told the publication. “I did say something bad about his girlfriend [the actor Daryl Hannah, now Young’s wife]. I said I thought she was a predator. OK, he can be mad at me. That’s all right. Graham just changed from the guy I thought was my best friend to being a guy that is definitely my enemy, so I don’t see any future there at all.”

But despite all the squabbles, Crosby told The Guardian that at age 80, he’s generally content with how things are at the moment.

“I’m in a peculiar place, man,” he said. “I’m right at the end of my life. I don’t have a lot of time left. I don’t know if I’ve found my way, but I do know I feel happy. I love my family, and the music’s coming to me. So, despite the fact that the world is in a shaky spot, I feel pretty damned good.”

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