David Crosby “If The Coronavirus Keeps Me From Touring I Will Lose My Home”

David Crosby spoke with GQ magazine and stated he is afraid that if the coronavirus prevents him from touring he will lose his home.

As more and more tours are being canceled in response to the spread of COVID-19, musicians are finding themselves pushing back albums and figuring out how to survive—even musicians as established and successful as David Crosby. He was worried about his livelihood, he told GQ. He was worried about how to make a living when the primary way most musicians now make a living—touring—was swiftly becoming impossible. Crosby is mischievous and gleeful and kind, even in adverse moments like this one. But he also sounded sad, even a little scared.

David Crosby: I’m Not too good. I’m sitting here waiting for them to cancel all my tours this summer and put me in deep financial trouble.

You know they don’t pay us for records anymore, right? So touring is all we got. That’s really the only thing that we can do to make any money. And to lose it is just awful. I may—honest to God—I may lose my home. I don’t know what to do about it, except just try to roll with the punches and keep going. Truthfully, if I lose the tours, I probably will lose my home.

Right now, they’re canceling Live Nation shows, who is, you know, the big gorilla in the room. They’re canceling up to April. They haven’t talked about May yet, which is when I’m slated to go. But once I start in May, I’m working almost constantly until about six days before Christmas. And if I lose it all, I’m going to be in deep shit.

It’s strange. I mean, streaming doesn’t pay. It’s like you did your gig for a month and they gave you a nickel. That’s how it is. The streaming doesn’t pay us any money. So live is all we got. That’s it; that’s the only thing I get. And if I lose live, then I lose it all. I will lose my home, because I don’t have any savings. And that’s it. That’s what I’m dealing with.

Read the full interview here