Chris Hillman (born December 4, 1944, Los Angeles, California) was one of the original members of The Byrds, which in 1965 included, Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke.

Chris Hillman, the youngest of four children, spent his early years on his family’s ranch home in rural North San Diego County. He has credited his older sister with exciting his interest in country and folk music when she returned from college in the late 1950s with folk music records.

Chris soon began watching many of the country music shows broadcast on local television in southern California at the time, such as Town Hall Party, Spade Cooley and Cal’s Corral.

Hillman’s mother encouraged his musical interests, and bought him his first guitar, but shortly after he developed an interest in bluegrass, and fell in love with the mandolin.

In mid-1964, Chris considered quitting music and enrolling at UCLA, but he received an offer from his former manager and producer Jim Dickson to join a new band, The Byrds. Chris was recruited to play electric bass guitar, although he had never picked up the instrument before.

After the Byrds, you joined the Flying Burrito Brothers, Stephen Stills’s Manassass, Souther, Hillman, Furay Band, The Desert Rose Band and Chris Hillman & Herb Pederson.