Biography
-
Years Active
1964 – 1973 (9 years)
-
Founded In
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States
-
Members
- Chris Hillman (1965 – 1968)
- Clarence White (1968 – 1973)
- David Crosby (1964 – 1967)
- Gene Clark
- Gene Parsons (1968 – 1972)
The Byrds were a popular American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. They are considered one of the most important and influential bands of the 1960s.
Their music bridged the gaps between the socially and spiritually conscious folk music of Bob Dylan, the studio trickery of The Beach Boys, and the sardonic rock of The Beatles. Some of their trademark songs include pop versions of Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man and Pete Seeger’s Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season), and the originals I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better, and Eight Miles High. Throughout their career they helped forge such subgenres as folk rock, raga rock, psychedelic rock, jangle pop, and – on their 1968 classic Sweetheart of the Rodeo – country rock inviting Gram Parsons on rhythm guitar.
The original and most successful lineup consisted of Chris Hillman, David Crosby, Michael Clarke, Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark. After several line-up changes (with lead singer/guitarist McGuinn as the only consistent member), they broke up in 1973.
In 1991 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and several band members launched successful solo careers after leaving the group. The most successful was David Crosby who was inducted again for his work with Crosby, Stills & Nash. Other than The Beatles, the only artist with all members inducted twice are, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Artist descriptions on Last.fm are editable by everyone. Feel free to contribute!
All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
