David Crosby's big money is a long time gone -- Page 2

Bankrate: When was your financial peak?

David Crosby: "Deja Vu" (1970) and "Four Way Street" (1971).

Bankrate: How much were you worth at your peak?

David Crosby: I don't know because I made it as fast as I spent it. I probably made, oh jeez, at least $25 million over the course of my career.

Bankrate: Made and spent?

David Crosby: Yup. I spent a tremendous amount on drugs when I was strung out.

Bankrate: Financially, what was your low point?

David Crosby: 1985, when I went into jail. I was in debt for hundreds of thousands of dollars and had not one cent to my name.

Bankrate: For someone as famous as yourself, who we assume would have some streams of income, when you're in debt with no money, are you actually worried about making the mortgage, paying the rent?

David Crosby: Yeah, I failed on making the mortgage and paying the rent. I lost everything. When I came out of jail, a friend of mine loaned me his car. My sweetheart -- who became my wife -- and I lived in his spare bedroom, and I wore his old clothes. I didn't have a dime.

Bankrate: How did you get out of it?

David Crosby: Worked. I worked. Luckily I have a job.

Bankrate: What was your first step out?

David Crosby: My partners came to me and said, "Wow, look at this, you didn't die, that's fantastic. Let's try working." They were very kind and went back to work with me. I rapidly regained my ability to work, and do good work, and they were off and running.

Bankrate: So what financial shape did all that leave you in?

David Crosby: I'm fine. I have a lovely house that's almost all paid off, and a small airplane, a little piston twin that I fly all the time and a sailboat. And my kid can go to any college he wants. Life is pretty good.

Bankrate: How do you invest your money?

David Crosby: If I have any extra, I put it into real estate because in real estate your own taste and ability can affect the outcome. If you put it in the market, you're just dust in the wind.

Larry Getlen is a freelance journalist and comedian in New York.