October 12, 1997 saw the death of what famed singer, born Henry Deutschendorf, when he lost control of his aircraft and crashed into the ocean near Pacific Grove, CA?
"John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, activist, and humanitarian, whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singer. After traveling and living in numerous locations while growing up in his military family, Denver began his music career with folk music groups during the late 1960s. Starting in the 1970s, he was one of the most popular acoustic artists of the decade and one of its best-selling artists. By 1974, he was one of America's best-selling performers, and AllMusic has described Denver"
"In 1974, he bought a Learjet to fly himself to concerts. He was a collector of vintage biplanes, and owned a Christen Eagle aerobatic plane, two Cessna 210 airplanes, and in 1997, an experimental, amateur-built Rutan Long-EZ. Denver was killed on October 12, 1997 when his experimental Rutan Long-EZ plane, aircraft registration number N555JD, crashed into Monterey Bay near Pacific Grove, California, while making a series of touch-and-go landings at the nearby Monterey Peninsula Airport. Denver was the only occupant of the aircraft. Identification was not possible using dental records; only his fingerprints confirmed that the pilot was Denver. The"
"Dean Paul Martin Dean Paul Martin Jr. (November 17, 1951 – March 21, 1987) was an American pop singer and film and television actor. A member of the California Air National Guard, Martin died in a crash during a military flight. Martin was the son of American entertainer Dean Martin. Martin's parents were singer and entertainer Dean Martin and his second wife, Jeanne Biegger. Dean Paul was the fifth of Dean Martin's eight children, and was Jeanne's eldest son. He attended the Urban Military Academy in Brentwood, California. As a youth, Martin was encouraged toward a singing career. At age"
"later project that Dinger headed. Through the mid-1990s, the group released albums on Captain Trip Records, the label that also issued the ""semi-official"" recordings ""Neu! 4"" and Neu! '72 Live! (both of which were released without Rother's consent). Dinger died on 21 March 2008, three days before his 62nd birthday, of heart failure. with Kraftwerk with Neu! with La Düsseldorf solo albums with Die Engel des Herrn with la! Neu? with la-duesseldorf.de as Klaus Dinger + Japandorf produced by Dinger Klaus Dinger Klaus Dinger (24 March 1946 – 21 March 2008) was a German musician and songwriter most famous for"
"one month after the C-47 accident a Marine Corps HRS-2 helicopter, bureau number 129037, crashed on the mountain in coordination of the efforts of recovering the victims. The three crewmen of the helicopter survived the impact. Most of the wreckage of the two aircraft remain on the mountain and are accessible via the Fish Creek Trailhead or the South Fork Trailhead. In more recent years, the mountain claimed the lives of Frank Sinatra's mother, Dolly (January 16, 1977) and Dean Paul Martin (March 21, 1987), son of Dean Martin, in unrelated plane crashes. Martin was an Air National Guard pilot"
"was one of 92 people killed aboard Flight 11 after it was hijacked and crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Near the end of the concert in Toronto on September 12, 2001, Littrell gave a brief speech about crew member Daniel Lee, who was on board American Airlines Flight 11, which was hijacked and deliberately crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11, and led the entire audience in a moment of silence for Lee and all those who died that day. The following songs were performed on"
"The ill fated flight was carrying a total of 33 people, 5 crew members and 28 passengers were onboard. Among the passengers were Melanie Thornton, the American lead singer of the German-based Eurodance group La Bouche; she was killed in the crash. The Eurodance group Passion Fruit was among those who were onboard flight 3597; singers Nathaly(ie) van het Ende and Maria Serrano Serrano were killed, while singer Debby St. Maarten and the band's manager survived with injuries. St. Maarten's injuries were classified as ""severe"". Peter Hogenkamp, founder and CEO of Swiss commercial blog service company Blogwerk AG, and his"
"2017 Medford, New Jersey Schweizer 269C crash On 8 September 2017, a Schweizer 269C helicopter crashed after an uncontrolled descent during a power-off landing attempt at the Flying W Airport in Medford, New Jersey, United States. The aircraft had experienced engine trouble during a local sightseeing flight for the benefit of passenger Troy Gentry, founder and member of the popular American country music band Montgomery Gentry, which was scheduled to perform at a resort at the airport later that day. The pilot died at the scene; Gentry was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital. The accident aircraft was"
"Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese ""Teddy"" Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American singer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he initially rose to musical fame as the lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. After leaving the group over monetary disputes in 1976, Pendergrass launched a successful solo career under the Philadelphia International label, releasing four consecutive platinum albums, then a record for an African-American R&B artist. Pendergrass' career was suspended after a near-fatal car crash in March 1982 that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Pendergrass continued his successful solo career until"
"is a four-time American Grammy winner and eight-time Latin Grammy Awards producer and mixer (as of 2011) Leonardo Krys died of a heart attack in Miami, on March 14, 2009. Leonardo Krys Leonardo Krys was a travel agent whose 1991 heart attack aboard a Lufthansa flight prompted U.S.-based airlines to install Automated External Defibrillators, or AED, on their planes. On November 30, 1991, Krys boarded a Lufthansa 747 in Miami, headed to Frankfurt, Germany. About an hour out, he suffered the symptoms of a cardiac infarction. The crew did not make an unscheduled landing and landed in Germany after a"
"and Johnny Ventura sung the song, which was one of the songs in ""Merenboom, Vol. 2."" Méndez himself had been a passenger on the flight before the November 12, 2001 accident flight had occurred. The song was later re-released as ""The Plane,"" or ""El Avion"" in Spanish. Méndez said that originally the song was intended to be about happiness while traveling to the Dominican Republic for the holidays. The aircraft on the flight crashed in 2001. Papi LaFontaine, who once served as Méndez's manager, died in the 2001 accident flight. Méndez said that he was considering writing a new song"
"the United Kingdom (#15 in 1973) and Japan (#6 in a belated 1976 release) with it. In 1976, Denver appeared as a guest star, along with Olivia Newton-John, who made a cameo appearance, on ""The Carpenters' Very First Television Special"", a one-hour TV special broadcast on the ABC television network. Academy of Country Music American Music Awards Country Music Association Emmy Awards Grammy Awards Songwriters Hall of Fame Studio albums John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, activist, and humanitarian, whose greatest"
"after Denver's accidental death in October 1997. In 1996, the FAA decided that Denver could no longer fly a plane, due to medical disqualification for failure to abstain from alcohol, a condition that the FAA had imposed in October 1995 after his prior drunk-driving conviction. Denver's talent extended beyond music. Artistic interests included painting, but because of his limiting schedule he pursued photography, saying once ""photography is a way to communicate a feeling"". Denver was also an avid skier and golfer, but his principal interest was in flying. His love of flying was second only to his love of music."
"registration number N206PZ, crashed into the Los Padres National Forest near Ventucopa, California. Horner was the only occupant of the aircraft when it took off after fueling at Camarillo Airport. Three days later, on June 25, the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the crash an accident. He is survived by his wife, Sara Elizabeth Horner (née Nelson), and two daughters. Contemporaries and collaborators around the world paid their respects to Horner, including composers Hans Zimmer, Paul Williams and Alan Menken, and directors Ron Howard and James Cameron. Horner was reported to have been committed to the ""Avatar"" franchise; Cameron"
"Jerry Weintraub Jerome Charles Weintraub (September 26, 1937 – July 6, 2015) was an American film producer, talent agent and actor whose television films won him three Emmys. He began his career as a talent agent, having managed relatively unknown singer John Denver in 1970, developing Denver's success through concerts, television specials and film roles, including ""Oh, God!"" (1977). Weintraub has been credited with making ""show business history"" by being the first to organize and manage large arena concert tours for singers. Among the other performers whose tours he managed were Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, The Four Seasons, Neil Diamond,"
"He nevertheless continued touring, celebrating his 40-year stage anniversary in 2003. Deutscher died from heart failure in 2006 in Frankfurt am Main, at the age of 60. Drafi Deutscher Drafi Franz Richard Deutscher (known professionally as Drafi Deutscher; 9 May 1946 – 9 June 2006) was a German singer and songwriter of Sinti origin. Deutscher was born in Charlottenburg, in the western zone of Berlin (Germany). Between 1964 and 1966, Deutscher had a string of hits in Germany, for example ""Shake Hands"" (1964 #1), ""Keep Smiling"" (1964 #7), ""Cinderella Baby"" (1965 #3), ""Heute male ich dein Bild, Cindy-Lou"" (1965 #"
"the light aircraft, a Beechcraft Bonanza, which subsequently crashed into a cornfield. Everyone on board was killed. The event has since been mentioned in various songs and films. A number of monuments have been erected at the crash site and in Clear Lake, where an annual memorial concert is also held at the Surf Ballroom, the venue that hosted the artists' last performance. Buddy Holly terminated his association with the Crickets in November 1958. For the start of the ""Winter Dance Party"" tour, he assembled a band consisting of Waylon Jennings (bass), Tommy Allsup (guitar), and Carl Bunch (drums), with"
"Major Henry J. Deutschendorf (singer John Denver's father) commanded a B-58 crew from the 43rd that set out to break six flight records; five of which the Soviet Union held. The Hustler flew two laps around a course with Edwards AFB, California, at one end and MCAS Yuma, Arizona at the other. The bomber set three speed records over the 1000 kilometer (km) course with a 2000 kilogram (kg), 1000 kg, and 0 kg payload—averaging 1,200.194 miles per hour (mph) in each category. The crew managed an average speed of in each of the same payload categories over the 2000"
"""The Day the Music Died,"" three of the four headline acts in the lineup of the traveling Winter Dance Party—Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper—were killed in the crash of a V-tailed 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza airplane, along with the 21-year-old pilot, Roger Peterson. (Dion DiMucci, the fourth headliner, had opted not to travel on the plane.) It crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, en route to the next show on the tour itinerary, in Moorhead, Minnesota. Velline, then 15 years old, and a hastily assembled band of Fargo schoolboys (including his older brother Bill) calling themselves the Shadows volunteered"
"perform until his death on December 7, 1990, in Smyrna, Georgia, from a heart attack at the age of 52. His last concert was with the Jimmy Gilstrap Band at the Portman Lounge in Anderson, South Carolina. Dee Clark Dee Clark (November 7, 1938 – December 7, 1990) was an American soul singer best known for a string of R&B and pop hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including the song ""Raindrops,"" which became a million-seller in the United States in 1961. He was born Delectus Clark or Delecta Clark, Jr. in Blytheville, Arkansas, and moved to Chicago"
"Ken Hart Ken Hart (May 7, 1917 – February 12, 2006) was an American World War II pilot, publisher, composer, actor, editor, lobbyist, writer, disc jockey and campaign manager. He was born in Long Beach, New York and died in Frankfort, Kentucky. In 1942, Lieutenant Ken Hart and Corporal Bert Gold, both natives of Long Beach, New York serving in the United States Army, co-wrote ""Dogface Soldier"", a song that became widely popular during and after World War II, and used as a soundtrack in the 1955 film ""To Hell and Back"" starring Audie Murphy. Lt. Hart served as a"
"the helicopter were injured, including actor Kirk Douglas and voice actor Noel Blanc. On April 3, 1991 two men died when the engine failed in their home-built plane. The plane fell and caught fire after hitting a golf cart. On Aug. 27, 1992 a man died when his Cessna collided in midair with another Cessna, then went two houses near the runway. On December 31, 1993 a man drowned when his two-seat Grumman lost power and went into the Santa Clara River. On June 21, 1994 a man died when his homemade ultra-light plane stalled and crashed into the Santa"
"the 1960s ""teeny-bopper"" rock group Dino, Desi & Billy), died when his F-4 Phantom II jet fighter crashed while flying with the California Air National Guard. Martin's grief over his son's death left him depressed and demoralized. Later, a tour with Davis and Sinatra in 1988, undertaken in part to help Martin recover, sputtered. Martin, who responded best to a club audience, felt lost in the huge stadiums they were performing in at Sinatra's insistence, and he was not interested in drinking until dawn after performances. His final Vegas shows were at Bally's Hotel in 1990. There he had his"
"airplay and its sales were disappointing for the band. Despite this, it was one of their most critically acclaimed albums and was included in ""Q""'s 50 Best Albums of 1995. One track of note on the album is ""Out of This World"", a song about Donald Campbell, who died while trying to set a speed record on water. The song inspired an effort to recover both Campbell's body and the ""Bluebird K7,"" the boat which Campbell crashed in, from the water. The recovery was finally undertaken in 2001, and both Steve Hogarth and Steve Rothery were invited. In 1998, Steve"
"star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2007, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to him. Jerry Weintraub Jerome Charles Weintraub (September 26, 1937 – July 6, 2015) was an American film producer, talent agent and actor whose television films won him three Emmys. He began his career as a talent agent, having managed relatively unknown singer John Denver in 1970, developing Denver's success through concerts, television specials and film roles, including ""Oh, God!"" (1977). Weintraub has been credited with making ""show business history"" by being the first to organize and manage"
"Blackhawk had been fined by the FAA four times before, including once for violating safety standards and once for failing to comply with maintenance standards. The 1999 charge took the company to task for failing to test its employees for illegal drug use. Nine people were killed in a Cessna 402B (N8097W) crash on August 25, 2001 around 6:50pm local time at Marsh Harbour, Abaco Islands, The Bahamas. The nine killed included; American R&B singer Aaliyah, 22, bodyguard Scott Gallin, 41, makeup artist Christopher Maldonado, 32, hairstylists Eric Forman, 29, & Anthony Dodd, 34, Virgin Records label video production director"
"minutes after takeoff for reasons still unknown. The crash killed all three passengers and pilot Roger Peterson instantly upon impact. As with Holly and Richardson, Valens suffered massive and unsurvivable head injuries along with blunt force trauma to the chest. At just 17 years old, Valens was the youngest to die in the crash. The tragedy inspired singer Don McLean to write his 1971 hit ""American Pie"", immortalizing February 3 as ""The Day the Music Died"". Valens's remains were buried at San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Mission Hills, California. Valens was a pioneer of Chicano rock and Latin rock and inspired"
"Who"" lead singer Burton Cummings emerged as a popular solo artist in soft rock. Also notable is folk rocker Gordon Lightfoot's ""The Wreck of the ""Edmund Fitzgerald"""", a song written in commemoration of the sinking of the bulk carrier SS ""Edmund Fitzgerald"" on Lake Superior on 10 November 1975. The incident is the most famous disaster in the history of Great Lakes shipping. The single reached #2 on the Billboard pop charts in November 1976, making it Lightfoot's second most successful (in terms of chart position) single, with ""Sundown"" having reached number one in 1974. Another of this period's most"
"apparently shooting himself in the head with an air rifle at his home in Clinton Corners, New York. Hearing the shot, his fiancée called 911. Hadley was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York where CAT scans and X-rays showed severe brain injury; he was put on life support. On July 16, he was taken off life support. Hadley died two days later. Further references Jerry Hadley Jerry Hadley (June 16, 1952 – July 18, 2007) was an American operatic tenor. He received three Grammy awards for his vocal performances in the recordings of ""Jenůfa"" (2004 Grammy Award"
"Fitzgerald, The Four Tops, Dick Gregory, W. C. Handy, Lena Horne, The Jackson 5, Mahalia Jackson, Bill Kenny, George Kirby, Eartha Kitt, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Moms Mabley, Johnny Mathis, The Miracles, Melba Moore, The Platters, Leontyne Price, Richard Pryor, Lou Rawls, Della Reese, Nipsey Russell, Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, The Temptations, Martha and the Vandellas, Ike & Tina Turner, Leslie Uggams, Sarah Vaughan, William Warfield, Dionne Warwick, Dinah Washington, Ethel Waters, Flip Wilson, Jackie Wilson, Nancy Wilson, and Stevie Wonder. Before his death in a plane crash in December 1967,"
"a guest lecturer for the Berklee School of Music, University of Miami, and Recording Workshop. Nichols was also a scuba diving instructor, an avid photographer, and an airplane pilot, and was close friends and flying buddies with singer/songwriter John Denver. Nichols engineered and produced albums for Denver over a nearly twenty-year period, including the 1998 children's railroad train album titled ""All Aboard!"" which earned Denver his first Grammy, awarded posthumously. Nichols was on his way to California to fly with Denver in his new experimental Long-EZ plane when he learned of the crash in which Denver was killed. He was"
"Ann Pellegreno Ann Dearing Holtgren Pellegreno (born 1937 in Chicago, Illinois) has been a professional musician, teacher, author, lecturer, and farmer. In 1967, Pellegreno and a crew of three successfully flew a similar aircraft (a Lockheed 10A Electra) to complete a world flight that closely mirrored Amelia Earhart's flight plan in 1937. On the 30th anniversary of Earhart's disappearance, Pellegreno dropped a wreath in her honor over tiny Howland Island and returned to Oakland, California, completing the 28,000-mile (45,000 km) commemorative flight on July 7, 1967. In 1960, on the day she obtained her private pilot's license, Pellegreno took her"
"to the Sea"" and was recorded by country music star T.G. Sheppard. Dunphy was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was attacked and shot by would-be robbers in 1983 but made a full recovery. Although he had suffered two previous heart attacks in 1978 and 1991, he had been in good health and had even anchored broadcasts the week before he succumbed to a heart attack on May 20, 2002. He suffered this heart attack on his way to work the week before. On this night, former Los Angeles Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn (who himself would pass away in August of"