The term "birds" was common slang for girls in the UK at the time and after someone else suggested The Birds, finally The Byrds was decided on. The story goes that they decided to settle on a permanent name during a Thanksgiving dinner, and Gene Clark suggested The Birdsies. De var viktiga i utvecklingen av subgenrer som folkrock, psykedelisk rock och countryrock. Gruppens musik var ofta nyskapande och de hrde till de mer inflytelserika grupperna inom rocken under 1960-talet och 1970-talet. Three members of the original Byrds, Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman and David Crosby, have been trying to re-establish their claim to the Byrds name. The Byrds var en amerikansk musikgrupp som slog igenom i mitten av 1960-talet. The Byrds broke up in 1973, and in the wake of Clarke's performances across the country since 1984 lies a controversy about to come to a head. Regarding this, when did the Byrds break up? The band's five original members - guitarists Roger McGuinn and David Crosby, singer Gene Clark, bassist Chris Hillman and drummer Michael Clarke - went on to form such seminal groups as Crosby, Stills and Nash and the Flying Burrito Brothers.Īlso, who influenced the Byrds? Often described in their early days as a hybrid of Dylan and the Beatles, the Byrds in turn influenced Dylan and the Beatles almost as much as Bob and the Fab Four had influenced the Byrds. McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman remain active. Gene Clark died of a heart attack later that year, while Michael Clarke died of liver failure in 1993. In 1991, the Byrds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an occasion that saw the five original members performing together for the last time.