The deaths of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens was tragic and even though I was just a kid at the time, I was aware of how upset many people were over the loss. That accident became the archetype for all the subsequent deaths of rock stars in air accidents. The list is long... are you ready?

— Feb. 3, 1959: Rock stars Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens were killed when their chartered plane crashed near Mason City, Iowa, en route to a show.

— March 5, 1963: Country singer Patsy Cline, whose hits included "Crazy" and "She's Got You," and fellow singers Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins died in a plane crash near Camden, Tenn.

— July 31, 1964: Jim Reeves, a country balladeer known for "Four Walls" and "Welcome to My World," was killed in the crash of a small plane in Nashville, Tenn.

— Dec. 10, 1967: Soul singer Otis Redding died when his plane crashed into a lake near Madison, Wis.

— Sept. 20, 1973: Singer Jim Croce, known for hits such as "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," was killed in a plane crash near Natchitoches, La.

— Oct. 21, 1977: Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Stevie Gaines of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd died in a plane crash in McComb, Miss.

— March 19, 1982: Randall "Randy" Rhoads, lead guitarist in rock star Ozzy Osbourne's band, along with two others, were killed when their Beechcraft Bonanza allegedly flew too low while "buzzing" a band van on tour in Leesburg, Fla.

— Dec. 31, 1985: Rick Nelson, "Ozzie and Harriet" TV star turned rock 'n' roller, died when his plane caught fire and crashed near DeKalb, Texas.

— March 21, 1987: Dean Paul Martin, former member of the 1960s band Dino, Desi and Billy and son of entertainer of Dean Martin, was killed with his co-pilot. The two, flying an F-4 phantom, were members of the California Air National Guard.

— Aug. 27, 1990: Blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan died when his helicopter crashed into a hill in East Troy, Wis., after departing from a concert.

— Oct. 25, 1991: Bill Graham, who built an empire promoting concerts as rock 'n' roll turned psychedelic in the 1960s with groups including Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and Santana, was killed in a helicopter crash near Vallejo, Calif.

— Oct. 12, 1997: John Denver, 1970s superstar with hits like "Take Me Home, Country Roads," died in the crash of his experimental plane off the California coast.

— Aug. 25, 2001: Actress and R&B singer Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash in the Bahamas along with eight others. The twin-engine Cessna went down shortly after takeoff.

— Nov. 24, 2001: Melanie Thornton, half of the pop duo La Bouche, which had '1990s hits such as "Be My Lover" and "Sweet Dreams," died in an airline crash in Switzerland.

— Feb. 12, 2009: Two members of jazz musician Chuck Mangione's band, Gerry Niewood and Coleman Mellett, were killed in a commuter plane crash outside Buffalo, NY, along with 48 others.

Still wanna be a Rock star???

John

Yes, thats pretty much it. Thank you!

Man that is a story. Thanks for posting.

I used to do a winter tour annually with a group in Minnesota. We would cover Minn, Iowa, North and South Dakota and occasionally Wisconsin and Nebraska. We never did any of those trips without some amazing travel stories. Pulling wreck victims from snow banks, repairing electrical systems in a blizzard, thawing out frozen air systems when it was so cold 30 below, that our propane torches would freeze, sleeping in vehicles because it was too cold to shut them off, I could go on and on. Brutal, but what I did find was that people in the northern central states were generally very willing to jump in and help one another. Great road stories, but their were indeed dire consequences for making bad decisions. Since I was always in charge, I always had to make those decisions. I can tell you that there was always a little voice in my head reminding me that a bad decision might end up putting me and the rest of the tour in a made for TV movie. Potentially scary stuff but I always enjoyed the challenge.

And don't forget most of Reba MacEntire's band in 1991. That was terrible.