An American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young).

Born in Dallas, Texas to a military family, Stills moved around as a child. He developed an interest in blues and folk music and was also influenced by Latin music after spending his youth in Gainesville and Tampa, Florida, Costa Rica and the Panama Canal Zone, where he graduated from high school.

Stills dropped out of the University of Florida to pursue a music career in the early 1960s. He played in a series of unsuccessful bands including the Continentals, which featured future Eagles guitarist Don Felder, and could also be seen singing solo in Greenwich Village.

Stills eventually ended up in a 9-member vocal harmony group, the house act at the famous Cafe Au Go Go in New York, called the Au Go Go Singers, where he met Richie Furay. This group broke up in 1965, after which Stills, along with four other former members of the Au Go Go Singers, formed the Company, a folk/rock group. The Company embarked on a 6-week tour of Canada where Stills met a young guitarist named Neil Young.

The Company broke up within 4 months, when Stills did session work and went to various auditions (including an unsuccessful one for The Monkees). In 1966 he convinced a reluctant Richie Furay, then living in Massachusetts, to move with him to Los Angeles, where they met up with Young and formed the core of Buffalo Springfield. The band released three albums (Buffalo Springfield, Buffalo Springfield Again and Last Time Around) and one hit single (Stills' For What It's Worth) before breaking up in 1968.

Stills' guitar playing evolved significantly at this time, with influences from rock, blues, country music, acoustic-folk music and various kinds of Latin music. Stills is notorious for experimentation with guitar technology and tunings and is also adept at piano, organ and bass and plays some drums.

During the disintegration of Buffalo Springfield, Stills joined up with ex-Byrd David Crosby and ex-Hollies Graham Nash to form Crosby, Stills & Nash. Cass Elliot invited Nash over to meet him and Crosby at the home of well known folk artist and painter Joni Mitchell (who has painted several artworks of the three and also contributed the sleeve art for the CSNY collection album So Far, released in 1974).

Stills overdubbed most of the instrumental backing himself for the band's first album, Crosby, Stills and Nash, in 1969, with only Dallas Taylor's drums and some rhythm guitar from Crosby and Nash. Neil Young was added for their second album, and the group became Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, CSN/CSNY was one of the few North American groups to rival the Beatles in popularity. Despite several breakups and reformations, CSN (and sometimes CSNY) still record and tour to this day.

In the wake of CSNY's success, all 4 members recorded solo albums. In 1970, Stills released his self-titled debut album, which featured guests Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix (on what was possibly his last recording before he died), Cass Elliot, Ringo Starr (credited only as Richie) as well as contributions from various members of the CSNY band. It provided Stills with the hit single Love The One You're With. Stills followed this with Stephen Stills 2.

The next year, Stills teamed up with ex-Byrd Chris Hillman and several CSNY sidemen to form the band Manassas. They recorded the self-titled double album Manassas, which was a mixture of blues, folk and Latin music divided into different sections, and is considered by many to be one of Stills' best albums.

During a Manassas tour in France, Stills met and married French singer-songwriter Veronique Sanson. Then he switched to Columbia Records, where he recorded two albums: Stills in 1975 and the punningly titled Illegal Stills in 1976.

In 1976, Stills attempted a reunion with Young. At one point, Long May You Run was slated to be a CSNY record, but when Crosby and Nash left to fulfill recording and touring obligations, Stills and Young decided to go on as the Stills-Young Band. However, Young left midway through the resulting tour due to an apparent throat infection.

Stills was contractually bound to finish the tour, which he did, but upon returning home, his wife announced she wanted a divorce and wished to move back to France. Stills reunited with Crosby and Nash shortly afterwards, which led to the semi-permanent CSN reunion of 1977, which has persisted even though all three have released solo records since then.

In 2005 Stills released Man Alive!, his first solo offering in 14 years. The album was critically well received and is regarded by many fans as his best since the mid 1970s.