Bruce Berry

Who was Bruce Berry?

Bruce Berry was a professional roadie for the members of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, both as a group and individually.

He got his start by working at his brother Ken's store SIR which brought him steady gigs. His happy, charismatic personality endeared him to the group and he was always on the road with them. He used to load all of his instruments into his trademark white Ford Econoline van, until he moved to England to work with Stephen Stills.

Supposedly, when he came back to the USA he was a completely different person. Danny Whitten had turned him on to heroin and it now controlled his life. One time, he was working for David Crosby when he told everyone that David's car had been broken into and that his beloved Stratocaster had been stolen. However, everyone knew that he was now a junkie and that he had sold the guitar for drugs. Berry died of an overdose of heroin on June 4, 1973, just a few months after Danny Whitten met the same fate. Bruce Berry's story has been immortalized in the lyrics of the title track of the album Tonight's the Night by Neil Young.

Bruce Berry was the brother of Jan Berry of Jan and Dean.