JFK+50: Volume 6, No. 1814
RICK NELSON DIED IN NEW YEAR'S EVE PLANE CRASH 30 YEARS AGODe Kalb, Texas (JFK+50) Thirty years ago, New Year's Eve 1985, pop singer Rick Nelson* perished in an airplane crash here in De Kalb. He and members of his band were on a DC-3 chartered aircraft bound for Dallas from Guntersville, Alabama.
The plane filled with smoke and pilots attempted an emergency landing. While the two pilots were able to escape, their seven passengers died. The crash occurred at 5:14 p.m. CST.
Ricky Nelson, the son of television stars Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, began his singing career on the "Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" television show in 1957.
Rick had thirty TOP 40 hits from 1957 to 1962. He recorded Fats Domino's "I'm Walkin" and his "Be Bop Baby" soared to #3 on the charts. Nelson's first record album reached #1 and sold a million copies.
Rick Nelson's singing career made a revival in the early 1970s with a string of hits including "Garden Party." The Official Rick Nelson Website says that the singer "became one of the first artists that audiences saw and heard simultaneously."
Rick Nelson was elected to both the Rock and Roll and Rockabilly Halls of Fame.
*Rick Nelson (1940-1985) was born in Teaneck, NJ, the son of Big Band leader Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Nelson, a vocalist. RN played football & tennis at Hollywood High School, and became a cast member on his parent's "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet" television show.
SOURCES
"Rick Nelson dies in plane crash," Today In History, www.history.com/
Rick Nelson Official Website, www.rickynelson.com/
Rick Nelson
Decca Records (1966)
