« He gave me the gift of family, » Etheridge wrote.
Following the death of folk-rock singer at age 81, his friend and fellow musician Melissa Etheridge spoke out about the loss and the special connection they shared. Crosby was the biological father of the two children Etheridge shared with her ex-partner, Julie Cypher.
« I am grieving the loss of my friend, and Bailey’s and Beckett’s biological father, David, » Etheridge wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday. « He gave me the gift of family. »
Crosby, who cofounded The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, was an acquaintance of Cypher and Etheridge and was their sperm donor.
Crosby and his wife, Jan, had struggled for years to to have a baby and in 1995, they welcomed their son, Django.
In a 2000 interview with Etheridge, Cypher and the Crosbys opened up about their families. Etheridge and Cypher spoke about wanting a child when they visited the Crosbys in Hawaii after Django was born, and Jan Crosby proposed the idea that her husband could help.
