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RickNelson

Eric Hilliard Nelson was a well known teen idol, thanks to the family radio and television show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. His song “Poor Little Fool” ranked number eight-three of all-time most popular songs of the twentieth century. In 1985 at age forty-five Rick died in a plane crash while heading to a New Year’s Eve concert, attempting to stage a revival of his career. The last year of his life he earned nearly $700,000 from his music, but because of heavy alimony payments and, some say, an even heavier cocaine habit, he had only $40,000 left. He knew the forty-year-old charter plane the band owned needed service, though he felt that making it to the gig was more important. The plane burst into flames, with reports blaming it on the band’s free-basing as a reason for the massive fire that left Nelson and six of the band members identifiable only by dental records.

To learn more about the death of legendary characters read Tales Behind the Tombstones: The Deaths and Burials of some of the West’s Most Nefarious Outlaws, Notorious Women, and Celebrated Western Actors and Lawmen.