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Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's status goes beyond that of one of rock's most iconic supergroups as they also created a timeless classic with the 1970 track "Ohio."
The quartet, often considered one of the greatest supergroups in music history, formed by David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young, released the meaningful and powerful song that became a protest anthem of the 1970s.
Written by Young, the song served as his response to the tragic Kent State University shootings that occurred on May 4, 1970, resulting in the deaths and injuries of students.
Officially released less than a month after the incident, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's song captured the public's grief and anger, making it one of the defining anthems of the counterculture movement.
Recalling how Young came up with "Ohio," Nash told David Hoffman in a 1990 interview that the guitarist and former Buffalo Springfield member was moved after seeing the news coverage of the incident.
“Crosby told me that he saw Neil’s go off into the woods. Neil came back an hour later and played him “Ohio.” Crosby told me and Steven, we were in Los Angeles at that time, and he said, ‘Neil’s has written a song, you're not gonna believe it. We’ve got to get in the studio right away.’”
The supergroup quickly recorded the song, which was released about 10 days after the recording session.
“We killed our own single ‘Teach Your Children,’ which was my song, and we didn't care,” Nash continued, adding, “We didn't care any of those rules. We didn't care about the record company saying, ‘Listen, you don't want to do this. Let ‘Teach Your Children’ get up there and do its thing and then couple of months later bring it out.’”
However, the 84-year-old singer-songwriter said they “wanted to bring it instantly” as a form of protest.
“We wanted to put that record out on top of our other record and we killed it stone dead and we didn't care,” Nash said.
The gamble paid off for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young as "Ohio" became a huge hit, peaking at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending nine weeks on the chart.
Decades after its release, "Ohio" continued to resonate with listeners, earning a place on Ultimate Classic Rock's Top 100 Rock Songs list, where it ranked No. 91.
Related: ’60s Supergroup, Split After 47 Years, Ranked Among ‘Messiest Band Breakups’ of All Time
