Posted on 07/18/2021 12:59:46 PM PDT by sodpoodle
The life of a musician is a treacherous one. Many die from substance abuse, gunfire or even angry fans, whilst many, though seemingly a lot fewer, die of plain old age. There are some though, who have died from plane or helicopter crashes; many of whom are very well known and sad losses to the music industry. Here are the ten most famous.
Ricky Nelson On December 31st, 1985, Rock & roll singer Ricky Nelson (45), five members of his Stone Canyon band, and his fiancée, were all killed when a fire broke out on board a DC-3 taking them to a New Year’s Eve performance in Dallas, Texas. Only two people survived the crash landing near DeKalb, Texas. The fire was caused by a malfunctioning heater. Nelson was first known as the son of Ozzie and Harriet in their TV show of the same name in the late 1950s. He later became famous as the singer of such hits as “Travelin’ Man” and “Garden Party.”
John Denver
On October 12th, 1997, Singer John Denver (53) died when his experimental single-engine Rutan Long EZ plane crashed near Monterey, California. At first, rescuers could not identify the body because the face was burned beyond recognition, but authorities were later able to identify Denver by his fingerprints. Denver was famous for writing and performing “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” “Country Roads”, “Rocky Mountain High”, “Sunshine on My Shoulders (Makes Me Happy)” , and other songs. The crash occurred when Denver inadvertently pressed down on the plane’s right rudder pedal while trying to switch fuel tanks by reaching for the fuel selector switch behind him. The plane had been modified to place the fuel selector switch behind the pilot rather than between his legs.
(Excerpt) Read more at listverse.com ...
Time In A Bottle is still a beautiful song.
John Denver’s Annie’s Song is another.
Worlds apart from the dreck out there today.
I would agree. Not sure how Aaliyah, Ronnie Van Zandt or Steve & Cassie Gaines would rate because I have never heard of them.
You were lucky to see all of those hitmakers in the same concert.
His voice was, indeed, unique.
Am I Losing You?--Jim Reeves (1960)
The latter three were members of Lynyrd Skynyrd - if that helps.
Dream a Little Dream of Me--Ozzie Nelson & His Orchestra (1931)
Ozzie Nelson was also a graduate of Yale law school. Ricky Nelson was talented unlike some of the boy bands like Dino, Desi and Billy.
Ping for later read.........
November 3, 2020.
The day the Republic died.
I wonder who will write that Song?
“Jim Croce had a LOT more than “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”.”
He was a musical genius. Who knows what music we have missed out on.
Also Harry Chapin was killed in a plane crash. Also Classical Pianist William Kapell was killed in a commercial plane crash in 1953 at the age of 31.
I stand corrected, Harry Chapin did die in an auto accident not a plane crash.
It happened on the Long Island Expressway near Exit 40 in Jericho (westbound).
I always steer clear of the LIE as it's so unpredictable. Sometimes you can be sailing along, other times you are stuck in a massive traffic jam for hours. Instead, I stick to the Northern or Southern Parkways (where no trucks are allowed), but you need to be on your toes there as well as the cars tend to zip in and out of lanes with little warning.
I actually try to avoid Long Island in general. Way too many cars and not enough roads. Plus everybody seems to own a boat.
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