He is a singer-songwriter, guitarist and
multi-musician born in Dallas, Texas.His family worked in the military and his growing up years were
spent at various locations in North and South America with his high school
graduation being in the Panama Canal Zone.He took his further education at the University of
Florida but left there in the early 1960s deciding he wanted to follow the
path of a career in music.Moving
to New York he sang solo in a Greenwich Village coffeehouse and joined up
with several bands such as The Continentals, where a co-member was Don
Felder.He later sang with Richie
Furay in the harmony singing nonet, the Au Go Go Singers, and was with them
in 1964 when they recorded their only album release, They Call Us Au Go
Go Singers.After the
group had disbanded in 1965 he co-founded The Company with four of his
previous co-members and while they were on a tour of Canada he met up with Neil
Young.The Company only lasted
a matter of months after the tour and following their split he unsuccessfully
auditioned for The Monkees, but recommended his ex-room mate Peter
Torkelson who landed the part, and embarked on doing session work.He gained some attention when his
song "Sit Down, I Think I Love You" became a minor hit for The Mojo Men
prior to it later being recorded by his own band. Still in contact with Richie Furay,
the two of them took the plunge and moved to California, where they also
met back up with Neil Young.The
three of them formed Buffalo Springfield and saw some success with the hit
single "For What It's Worth" and the release of three albums but eventually
decided to go their own ways.Around the same time he and David Crosby were invited to go to Joni
Mitchells house and Mama Cass Elliott met them there with Graham Nash.This resulted in the formation of
the acclaimed Crosby, Stills & Nash and also several paintings of the
three being done by Joni Mitchell.On their first album he did much of the work such as overdubbing
himself and then for the second album Neil Young came on-board resulting in
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.From their beginnings, in the late 1960s, their popularity
throughout the world was immense and even though there were break-ups and
Neil Young left the group they are still touring and recording today.He also released several of his own
works as a solo artist throughout the years and put out his debut album in
1970 which produced the hit "Love the One You're With".In 1971 he formed the group
Manassas with Chris Hillman from The Byrds and this led to further touring
and recording.1975 saw him
changing record label and releasing two further solo albums and in 1976, after
an attempted reunion with Neil Young and the other members of CSN had
failed, he and Young teamed up as The Stills-Young Band.This was short-lived and he went
back to rejoin to CSN in 1977 and they have been back together ever since.His songwriting has included such
titles as "Bluebird", "Change Partners", "For What It's Worth", "Helplessly
Hoping", "4+20", "Southern Cross", "Wooden Ships" and "You Don't Have to Cry"
and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", with several being written for his on-off
girlfriend at the time, Judy Collins.Many other artists such as David Axelrod, Bonnie Bramlett, Bucks
Fizz, Cher, Chicago, Joe Cocker, Hugh Cornwell, Decameron, Dodgy, Billy
Eckstine, Percy Faith, Aretha Franklin, Astrud Gilberto, Bobby Goldsboro, Richie
Havens, Engelbert Humperdinck, The Isley Brothers, Jefferson Starship, The
King's Singers, Steve Lukather, Miriam Makeba, Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66,
The Muppets, The Neville Brothers, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Ozzy Osbourne, Robert
Plant, Poco, The Pointer Sisters, Bonnie Raitt, Lou Rawls, REO Speedwagon, Rufus
& Chaka Khan, Rush, Sam & Dave, Bob Seger, The Searchers, Sherbet, The
Staple Singers, Styx, The Supremes & The Four Tops, Luther Vandross, Joe
Vitale, Yes, Will Young and The Zombies have recorded these songs as well
as himself as a solo artist, CSN and Buffalo Springfield.Often performing with other artists
he has worked with Hoyt Axton, Joan Baez, Mickey Hart, Humble Pie, Jefferson
Airplane, Booker T. Jones, Russ Kunkel, The Monkees, The Michael Schenker
Group, John Sebastian, Doris Troy and Bill Withers among countless others.The njumerous albums he has featured
on include his own Illegal Stills,Just Roll Tape,Man
Alive!,Right By You, Stephen Stills,Stephen Stills 2,Stills, Stills Alone, Thoroughfare Gap and Turnin' Back the Pages
as well as Children of the World by Bee Gees, BuffaloSpringfield
and Buffalo Springfield Again by Buffalo Springfield, Crossroads
by Eric Clapton, Who Knows Where the Time Goes by Judy Collins, Rita
Coolidge by Rita Coolidge, Allies, Carry On, Crosby, Stills &
Nash,Daylight Again and Live It Up by Crosby Stills &
Nash, American Dream, Deja` Vu and 4 Way Street by Crosby,
Stills, Nash & Young, Dream a Little Dream of Me by Mama Cass
Elliott, Cry of Love by Jimi Hendrix, Loggins & Messina by
Loggins & Messina, Manassas and Down the Road with
Manassas, Stop and Smell the Roses by Ringo Starr, Long May You
Run with The Stills-Young Band and Harvest by Neil Young. His abilities as a guitarist have not
gone un-noticed, with him being ranked #28 in the "Greatest Guitarists of
All Time" in 2003 by Rolling Stone, and his unique style of tuning
and playing have been said to show some influence from his close friend Jimi
Hendrix's style.In fact, it
has been said that it is thought that Jimi Hendrix's appearance on his
debut album may have been the last recording he ever made.At the same time he has been dubbed
"Captain Manyhands" and is recognised for being a multi-instrumentalist,
playing the bass, drums, piano and organ amongst others. In fact, he performed
most of the instruments on the CSN album.In recognition of his contribution to music he was
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame twice in the same night in
1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield and CSN.In recent years he has been a member and delegate of the
Democratic Credentials Committee in Florida, appeared as a guest musician
with Jimmy Buffett in 2004, released a solo album in 2005, sang the National
Anthem for the first game of the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals and toured with the
ensemble called The Quartet as well as with CSN throughout 2006 and 2007.The start of 2008 saw him
hospitalised to undergo an operation for the early stages of prostate
cancer.He has 5 children,
with two of them being recording artists, and his youngest son having been
born in 2004.He has set up
the Stephen Stills Children's Music Project to assist children, mainly from
poor areas, with various musical programs.
