Credit: Far Out / Omroepvereniging VARA / DonJCR21
October 27th, 2026 · 8:30pm GMT
It was just over 57 years ago that Crosby, Stills and Nash’s infamous ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’, one of the trio’s most successful and highly lauded compositions, was among a few songs which arose from Stephen Stills’ short-lived love affair with Judy Collins.
Collins was regarded as one of the brightest up-and-coming folk songwriters of the 1960s, signing with Elektra Records at the start of the decade, and releasing seven albums up to 1967, including the one that brought her to the front of the popular music scene: 1966’s In My Life.
Fast forward to 1968, and she was going into the studio for her seventh album, Who Knows Where the Time Goes, where she met a young Stills, then best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and most recently forming a trio named Crosby, Stills and Nash with David Crosby of The Byrds and Graham Nash of The Hollies.
Stills had also worked as a session musician in Southern California, leading him to do a session for Collins’ latest work, where sparks between the two quickly flared. “He came on to play on this live session of mine for a week or so, and we had an affair,” she recalled. The recording went flawlessly, Stills bringing a more modern sound to her work, and even bringing in a song that would become one of her greatest recordings: a cover of Ian Tyson’s ‘Someday Soon’.
It wasn’t long, however, that the romance had turned into friendship, much to Stills’ disappointment. Collins described their relationship as “fireworks” and that it was “much too frantic for my speed at the time.” What happens when you put a musician as talented and developed as Stills through a short-lived romance and eventual heartbreak, one might ask. The answer is great music.
Crosby, Stills and Nash’s self-titled debut album won the Grammy for ‘Best New Artist’ in 1970, with Stills’ compositions ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’ and ‘Helplessly Hoping’ garnering a rapturous amount of praise for their sweet melodies, touching and honest lyricism, and exceptional acoustic guitar pieces.
Collins recalled the first time Stills came to her hotel room to play her the songs: “Afterwards, we both cried, and then I said, ‘Oh, Stephen, it’s such a beautiful song. But it’s not winning me back.’” If a song as soft and sweet as ‘Helplessly Hoping’, with soothing backing melodies by Nash and Crosby, isn’t winning someone back, then nothing ever will.
Further reading: From The Vault
Though the song ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’ even named her in the title, she claimed she didn’t feel exposed: “I’ve always understood that people have to write about their lives. Most of all, I felt the song was flattering and heartbreaking- for both of us. Neither one of us walked away from that relationship relieved. We were feeling like, ‘Whoa, what happened?’”
Even through this heartbreaking experience, the two remained good friends, and even released an album together in 2017, named Everybody Knows, which was followed by a tour where the two played through each one of their hits throughout the decades after their romantic encounter. “We’ve both had big careers,” Collins recalled before their tour, “We both have a lot to talk about”.
Their story is a perfect example of how to turn heartbreak into something new and even more exciting, transforming regrets and feelings of loss into art which has inspired so many fans over the years.
ADD AS A PREFERRED SOURCE ON GOOGLE 
The Far Out Classic Rock Newsletter
All the latest Classic Rock content from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.