Veteran folk-rock star David Crosby, who was the biological father of two of Melissa Etheridge‘s children, died Thursday at the age of 81 after suffering from a long illness.

“I am grieving the loss of my friend and Bailey’s biological father, David. He gave me the gift of family. I will forever be grateful to him, Django, and Jan. His music and legacy will inspire many generations to come. A true treasure,” Etheridge wrote on her Twitter account.

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Singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist Melissa Etheridge came out publicly as a lesbian in January 1993. She had a long-term partnership with Julie Cypher. In 1997, Cypher gave birth to Bailey Jean and the following year conceived Beckett via artificial insemination using sperm donated by Crosby. 

In 2000, Etheridge and Cypher announced they were separating.

Beckett Cypher, the son of Melissa Etheridge and Julie Cypher, died in 2020. He was 21 at the time of his death. In a statement, Etheridge said that her son’s death was related to opioid addiction.

“Today I joined the hundreds of thousands of families who have lost loved ones to opioid addiction,” she wrote on Twitter at the time. “My son Beckett, who was just 21, struggled to overcome his addiction and finally succumbed to it today. He will be missed by those who loved him, his family and friends.

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“My heart is broken,” she continued. “I am grateful for those who have reached out with condolences, and I feel their love and sincere grief. We struggle with what else we could have done to save him, and in the end we know he is out of the pain now. I will sing again, soon. It has always healed me.”

In 2002, Etheridge began dating actress Tammy Lynn Michaels, who gave birth to fraternal twins, Johnnie Rose and Miller Steven, who were conceived via an anonymous sperm donor. Johnnie Rose and Miller Steven were born on October 17, 2006.