Music History, Plane Crashes

There was the one with Ricky Valenz, it had three famous or up and coming musicians on it. Also Aleya.

It's amazing how many plane crashes there have been with musicians on board and how many have died. The most famous is probably "The Day the Music Died" on February 3, 1959 when Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), and Ritchie Valens as well as the pilot Roger Peterson died when their plane crashed just outside Clear Lake, Iowa, during a stormy winter night.

Ricky Nelson died on December 31, 1985, with five members of his band, and his fiancée, when a fire broke out on board a DC-3 taking them to a New Year’s Eve performance in Dallas, Texas.

i dont know of any off hand- at least i dont remember the details.

I thought of Buddy Holly right off. Also Aaliyah. Her plane was too heavy and crashed, killing all aboard, if I remember correctly.

Aaliyah, and also Patsy Cline

hmm I dunno, but there seems to be a lot of plane crashes just recently...makes me wonder.

Let's see. Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Denver.

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Randy Rodes

John Denver

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Wow, amazing how many there are. I could only think of Buddy Holly myself, but I know there were many more. My husband would be able to tell me all of them!

I guess their odds are increased because of the amount of travel they do. I hope dj and Travis make it.

The ones I know of have already been named

I was thinking of Ricky Nelson as well. I saw his son's in concert a few weeks ago. Also there was John Denver

Well he had been mentioned I can't think of any others.

Reba McEntire's band members and road manager

My mom just told me that Glenn Miller (a big band leader from the day) was killed in a plane crash. He was possibly shot down by Allied forces during WWII.

Randy Rhodes *sigh* so much talent for such a young guy!

There is a directory of dead musicians here Airplane crash page ...

The Bar-Kays':
Jimmy King(b.1949; guitar), Ronnie Caldwell (b. 1948; organ), Phalin Jones (b. 1949; saxophone), and Carl Cunningham (b. 1949; drums). The Bar-Kays were employed as Otis Redding's backing group on tour, and the tragic plane crash in 1967, which took his life, also claimed King, Caldwell, Jones and Cunningham. James Alexander, who fortuitously missed the flight, put a new line-up together with Ben Cauley, the sole survivor of the accident.

David Box: Age 22
(b. Harold David Box, Sulphur Springs on 11 August 1943; d. 23 October 1964)
After the death of Buddy Holly, the Crickets used various lead singers on their records. One was David Box who sang lead on the Crickets' recording of "Peggy Sue Got Married"...The song was among the last Cricket singles to be issued on Coral - and one of the very best released after Buddy died...David also worked with local band Buddy and the Kings. Buddy Groves vocal/guitar, Carl Banks bass and Bill Daniels presumably on drums. Daniels was a qualified pilot and the quartet hired a Cesna Skyhawk 172 to take them to a gig in Harris County on . The plane crashed nose first and overturned on the return flight. There were no survivers.

Stephen Canaday: Age 55
Ozark Mountain Daredevils
Former Ozark Mountain Daredevils member Stephen Canaday was killed Saturday (Sept. 25, 1999)

Bill Chase: Age 39
(b. 1935; d. 9 August 1974, Jackson, MN)
In 1974, Chase chartered a plane to take him and three band members to a performance in Jackson, MN. The weather was bad with a low ceiling, and the airport in Jackson had little communications equipment. The plane went down, but was not found until the next day. There were no survivors. - Dick Cooper Chase's entire band lost their lives: (BILL CHASE, JOHN EMMA, WALLY YOHN and WALTER CLARK).

Regarding Patsy Cline's crash, "Identification was difficult as only Patsy's shoulders, the back of her head and right arm were in one recognizable piece." Ewwww.... In that one: On 5 March 1963 Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins and Randy Hughes were killed when their plane crashed in swamped woodlands in Camden, Tennessee, 85 miles from Nashville.

Jim Croce: Age 30
(b. 10 January 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 20 September 1973).

Helicopter crash: Jane Dornacker: Age 39
Tubes
(b. 10/1/47, d. 10/22/86, NYC, NY)

Carlos Gardel: Age 44
(Born in France 11 December 1890; Died: 24 June 1935)

...On the night of October 25, 1991, he and Bill Graham Presents staffers Steve Kahn and Melissa Gold were killed in a helicopter accident

Walter Hyatt: Age 46
Uncle Walt's Band
(B. 1950 , D. May 11, 1996)

Lynyrd Skynyrd
Ronnie Van Zant:
(d. 20 October 1977)

Dino Martin: Age 35
(Born: July 20, 1953 in Encino, CA ,Died: March 21, 1987 in Mount San Gorgonio, CA)

Glenn Miller: Age 40
(Born: Mar 1, 1904 in Clarinda, IA, Died: Dec 15, 1944 in English Channel)

Grace Moore: Age 46
(born:5 Dec. 1901; died 26 Jan. 1947) Photo of Grace

Rick Nelson: Age 45
(b. Eric Hilliard Nelson, 8 May 1940, Teaneck, New Jersey, d. 31 December 1985, De Kalb, Texas).

Passion Fruit's:
Maria Serrano-Serrano, and Nathaly van het Ende: Age 27
(November 24, 2001)

Joe Dan Petty: Age 52
Grinderswitch
(Died 8 Janurary 2000, Macon, GA)

Otis Redding: Age 26
(September 1941, Dawson, Georgia, USA, d. 10 December 1967). Photo of Otis

Jim Reeves: Age 40
(James Travis Reeves, b. 20 August 1923, Galloway, Texas, USA, d. 31 July 1964).

Randy Rhoads: Age 25
(b. Randall William Rhoads, 6 Dec 1956, Santa Monica, CA, d. 19 March 1982).

Stan Rogers: Age 33
(Born:November 29, 1949 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Died: June 2 , 1983)

Melanie Thornton: Age 34
La Bouche
(b. May 1967, South Carolina; died November 24, 2001, Switzerland)

Graeme 'Shirley' Strachan: Age 49
Skyhooks
(Born: Malvern Australia 2/1/52; Died August 29, 2001)

Stevie Ray Vaughan: Age 35
Born: Oct 3, 1954 in Dallas, TX; Died: Aug 27, 1990 in East Troy, WI

March 16, 1991: Seven members of singer Reba McEntire's band are among 10 people killed in crash near San Diego.

I tried not to duplicate, but I might have. It's interesting reading, if you want to go to the link. It gives some background and what happened.

Wow Barbara, that's an awful lot of talent we lost too early.

The ones that I know has already been named.

Wow, thats a lot, didnt think there were that many. Only knew of two or three myself.

Wow Barbara named them all.

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