Stephen Stills’ aching bones

last updated 8 January 2015

Stephen Stills is feeling all of his 64 years, says David Cavanagh in Uncut. Actually the youngest member of the iconic rock trio he founded with David Crosby and Graham Nash four decades ago, Stills bears the marks of years of hard living. His voice has become a Spencer Tracy–like growl. He recently had surgery for prostate cancer, suffers from tinnitus, and describes himself as “completely deaf,’’ with hearing aids in both ears. When people are speaking to him, his band mates sometimes must come to his rescue. “If we’re doing a press interview, and I’ve missed the question, Graham will turn to me, look straight into my eyes, and repeat it.” Now touring with Crosby and Nash for what may be the last time, Stills is torn between retiring and reigniting his solo career. “It’s not that I can’t still do it. It’s just that back then I had a 30-inch waist and nothing hurt, I could go for days. When I look in the mirror now, I see a bit around the eyes, the lumps and bumps. But that guy’s still in there. Oh, I don’t know. Maybe somebody on the political scene will do something really annoying and I’ll write a song about it. In my 60s, it’s a bit of a reach. But let’s see.”