Photo by Henry Diltz

Rusty Young, the co-founder and longtime multi-instrumentalist for West Coast country-rock band Poco, has died. He was 75.

Young was born in 1946 and, after rising to prominence in the late ’60s, he founded Poco alongside Richie Furay and Jim Messina of the recently disbanded Buffalo Springfield.

Over time, the band released 19 studio albums, and well-known Poco tracks “Rose Of Cimarron” and “Crazy Love” both came from Young’s pen.

Despite genre adaptations and lineup shifts Young remained at the helm of the project for over five decades.

He retired in 2013, upon his induction to the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame, but still released a solo album – Waitin’ For The Sun – in 2017, and toured on-and-off with Poco up until the 2020 pandemic forced them off the road.

“I’ve been fortunate to have had a magical career,” Young said in 2020. “From the moment I was called to play on the Buffalo Springfield album [Last Time Around], all through Poco, and now through my solo projects, things have just fallen into place. I’ve worked really hard to be the best I can be, and I think my music is the proof.”

Watch Poco perform “Rose Of Cimarron” in 1976 below: