By Scarlett O’Toole, The Mirror US | Rock star Gunnar Nelson has admitted he “never really thought beyond 45” after his dad died at that age in a horror plane crash. Ricky Nelson sadly died on December 31, 1985, when his plane crashed in a field outside De Kalb, Texas. A fire had broken out in the cabin, forcing the pilot to make a crash landing. The four members of Ricky’s Stone Canyon Band backing group also died in the crash, as well as his girlfriend, Helen Blair.
Ricky’s twin sons, Gunnar and Matthew Nelson, were just 18 years old when their dad died. Following the plane crash, it was wrongly suggested that cocaine freebasing was a possible cause, but this theory was rejected after an investigation was carried out.
Gunnar and Matthew reflected on their dad’s death in their memoir, What Happened to Your Hair?, which was released in December. Following the book’s release, Gunnar spoke to The Mirror US about how he felt following his father’s death.
He shared, “The 45-year thing with our dad, it was one of those things that I had in the back of my mind that I don’t know why. It was my unconscious thought that I never really thought beyond the 45 years that our dad got on this planet.”
Speaking about Ricky’s death, Gunnar said, “He was way too young. He sure did squeeze a whole lot of living into 45 years. I will say that. I mean, it’s amazing the career he had and what he was able to accomplish in that short amount of time.”
Ricky never stopped touring throughout his career, with Gunnar noting that his dad played around 300 gigs each year. “This was a very, very hard-working man. He was on the road a lot more than he was home. And he was doing that for his fans. He loved playing for people,” he explained.
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Story also contains an almost 21 minute long video of Ricky’s life:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/rock-icon-gunnar-nelson-never-thought-beyond-the-age-of-45-after-dad-s-untimely-death/
