Editing Stephen Stills (section)

==Early years==
Stills was born in [[Dallas, Texas]], to Talitha Quintilla Collard (1919–1996) and William Arthur Stills (1915–1986).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=talitha_collard|title=Talitha Collard – Ancestry.com|website=Ancestry.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=William+Arthur_Stills&name_x=1|title=William Arthur Stills – Ancestry.com|website=Ancestry.com}}</ref> Raised in a military family, he moved around as a child and developed an interest in blues and folk music. He was also influenced by Latin music after spending his youth in [[Gainesville, Florida|Gainesville]] and [[Tampa, Florida]], as well as [[Covington, Louisiana]], [[Costa Rica]], the [[Panama Canal Zone]], and [[El Salvador]]. Stills attended H.B. Plant High School in Tampa, Florida, [[Admiral Farragut Academy]] in [[St. Petersburg, Florida]] and [[Saint Leo University|Saint Leo College Preparatory School]] in [[Saint Leo, Florida]],<ref name=":2">Zimmer, Dave. ''Crosby, Stills & Nash: The Biography'', Philadelphia: Da Capo Press, 2008, p. 8.</ref> before graduating from Lincoln High School in Costa Rica. He has two sisters, Talitha and Hannah.<ref>Zimmer, Dave. ''Crosby, Stills & Nash: The Biography'', Philadelphia: Da Capo Press, 2008, p. 18.</ref>

When he was nine years old, he was diagnosed with partial hearing loss in one ear. The hearing loss increased as he got older.<ref>{{cite web |title=By the Time We Got to Woodstock... – Hearing Review |url=https://www.hearingreview.com/hearing-products/hearing-aids/bte/by-the-time-we-got-to-woodstock |website=Hearingreview.com |date=August 4, 2009 |access-date=May 12, 2021}}</ref>

Stills dropped out of [[Louisiana State University]] in the early 1960s. He played in a series of bands, including the Continentals, which then featured future [[The Eagles|Eagles]] guitarist [[Don Felder]]. Stills also sang as a solo artist at [[Gerde's Folk City]], a well-known coffeehouse in [[Greenwich Village]]. Stills eventually ended up in a nine-member vocal harmony ensemble, the house act at the [[Cafe au Go Go]] in New York City, called the [[Au Go Go Singers]], which included his future [[Buffalo Springfield]] bandmate [[Richie Furay]]. This ensemble did some touring in the [[Catskills]] and in the South, released one album in 1964, and then broke up in 1965.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Stills later formed a folk-rock band called the Company with four other former members of the Au Go Go Singers. The Company embarked on a six-week tour of Canada, where Stills met guitarist [[Neil Young]]. On the [[VH1]] ''CSNY Legends'' special, Stills said that Young was doing what he always wanted to do, "play folk music in a rock band". The Company broke up in New York within four months; Stills did [[Session musician|session work]] and went to various auditions. In 1966 he convinced a reluctant Furay, then living in [[Massachusetts]], to move with him to [[California]].{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} Stills nominally auditioned for the group that would become [[The Monkees]]; the producers of the show decided he was not photogenic enough for the part nor were they interested in his songwriting, but did accept Stills's recommendation for someone who looked vaguely like him but more attractive: [[Peter Tork]].<ref>Peter Tork speaking in a July 12, 2013 phone interview with Roger Friedensen, a correspondent for ''[[The News & Observer]]'' in [[Raleigh, North Carolina]].</ref><ref>Zimmer, Dave. ''Crosby, Stills & Nash: The Biography'', Philadelphia: Da Capo Press, 2008, p.&nbsp;31.</ref>