Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young brought together four singular voices and guitar styles into one of rock's most potent and volatile supergroups. Their vocal harmonies — tight, interlocking, and immediately recognizable — set the template for folk-rock group singing. Stephen Stills's aggressive electric playing and Neil Young's raw, feedback-laden solos gave the group a rock edge that balanced David Crosby's jazz-influenced chord voicings and Graham Nash's pop melodicism. Their second performance as a quartet was at Woodstock; their album Déjà Vu became a defining document of the counterculture. Ohio, written and recorded within days of the Kent State shootings, demonstrated rock music's power as protest. Though internal conflicts made sustained collaboration impossible, their reunions and individual work ensured their influence on folk-rock, country-rock, and singer-songwriter traditions remained immense.