Top 5 - Musicians Who Died in a Plane Crash
This is in no way to make light of a career and a person cut short. There just seems to have been a lot of musicians cut down in their prime due to a plane crash. Mostly small planes. If I was a musician, I dont think I would get in a small plane…ever. Here is my Top 5 list on the subject, but is by no means the complete list of musical plane deaths!
5. Patsy Cline - I am not a big country fan but Cline’s take and voice and her versions of Willie Nelson’s Crazy and I Fall to Pieces is pure musical magic. She died flying out of Nashville on a small Piper Comanche, killed instantly along with the pilot and two other passengers, fellow musicians Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins.
4. Otis Redding - Was only 28 when he passed away in 1967 and never saw how huge a hit Sitting on the Dock of the Bay became. But, his influence is felt over several genres, soul, funk, pop and rock. That soulful voice and big man presence was a boyish smile made him a star taken too soon. The Beechcraft H18 crashed no doubt due to poor weather, heavy rain and fog.
3. Buddy Holly (Richie Valens & The Big Bopper) - The day the music died. It would really have been interesting to see how Buddy Holly and Valens would have approached the changing music of the 60’s. I’ve always sort of considered The Big Bopper a novelty act with a novelty song and not sure what his legacy would end up being, but would love to visit an alternate reality and check in on Holly’s vision. They dies trying to leave Mason City, Iowa in a four seat Beechcraft Bonanza in cold crappy weather. They were trying to avoid another freezing trip aboard the band bus. Waylon Jennings gave up his seat to the Big Bopper and Valens won his seat in a coin toss.
2. Randy Rhoads - Ozzy Osbourne snatched up Rhoads after the latter broke with Quiet Riot and played on two of Ozzy’s seminal records: Diary of a Madman and Blizzard of Ozz. Guitar solos from Blzzard on the tracks Crazy Train and Mr. Crowley have place #9 and #28 respectively on Guitar World’s 100 greatest guitar solos. On a bus layover in Florida, the bus driver who was also a private pilot decided to fly a plan without permission and buzz the band members. on his second flight he took Rhoads into the air, clipped a wing on the tour bus and crashed. Three people on board, including Rhoads died instantly. He was 25. Despite his young age and short career, he is often cited as an influence by other guitarists for his fast and technical solos.
1. Stevie Ray Vaughn - Technically not a plane crash, but Vaughn died in 1990 at the age of 35 during a helicopter flight out of a venue in Wisconsin. It wasn’t unusual for artists to use helicopters in and out since there was only one road that could get log jammed with fans before and after a show. Vaughn’s music was a bluesy mix of rock and jazz and the blues (of course). Well respected by musicians across the board, the Texan found national success in 1983 after Vaughn played on David Bowie’s album Let’s Dance. He and his band, Double Trouble, recorded five platinum albums before his death and a six released posthumously.
Who did I leave out? Jim Croce? Lynyrd Skynyrd? Jim Reeves? John Denver? Ricky Nelson? I could have gone for any of them. Which are your Top 5?
