Don McLean‘s classic song “American Pie” details “the day the music died”: Feb. 3, 1959, when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper were killed in a plane crash in Iowa. Sadly, however, the three rockabilly artists weren’t the first, and were far from the last, musicians to die in a plane crash.
Given the amount of travel that musical artists do, their chances of encountering trouble on the road or in the skies is higher than the average person. They’re often flying in bad weather and on small planes — some are even piloting the aircrafts themselves! — thereby increasing the chances for disaster. Eight of the 10 fatal plane crashes listed below occurred when the musicians were either coming from or heading to a show.
While many of these accidents occurred decades ago, one remains fresh in the minds of country music fans: Just two years ago, in September of 2017, Troy Gentry of Montgomery Gentry died in a helicopter accident, mere couple of hours before he was set to take the stage in New Jersey.
Read on below to learn more stories of artists who died in plane crashes: