With his piercing blue eyes and pouty lips, this handsome teen idol broke many young girls’ hearts. When the iconic singer died in a fatal plane crash, it gave way to untold speculation and conspiracy theories. His children were strictly secret about the true cause of the crash, but the rumors said otherwise

One of the first teenage idols of rock music was Ricky Nelson, who was born Eric Hilliard Nelson in Teaneck, New Jersey, on May 8, 1940.

When he and his brother joined the cast of their parents’ sitcom, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, he became well-known at a very young age.

Ricky attended Gardner Street Public School and Hollywood High School during the sixteen-year run of the comedy.

Ricky’s father, Ozzie Nelson, was upset with him because he didn’t enjoy studying and thought Ricky should attend college. But when Ricky started making roughly $100,000 more a year than an adult would, his parents accepted that he was giving up on his schooling.

Ricky Nelson, 1940–1985, (US) singer–musician–actor, posing in 1957. (Image courtesy of Getty Images/Archive Photos))

The song “I’m Walking,” which was recorded for the program and performed by the then-17-year-old Ricky in an episode named “Ricky, the Drummer,” became an immediate smash, peaking at number 4 on Billboard’s Best Sellers list. It’s safe to say that it introduced young Ricky to the world of music in its entirety.

Before long, he was releasing more songs and rising to prominence in the business. Garden Party, Fools Rush In, For You, Poor Little Fool, and Travelin’ Man are some of his other well-known singles.

Ricky wed Kristin Harmon in 1963; the two had comparable backgrounds. Sam Hilliard Nelson, Matthew Gray and Gunnar Eric Nelson, the twins, and Tracy Kristine Nelson, their daughter, were the couple’s four children together.

Their marriage was picture-perfect at first, but when they both adopted a hippy lifestyle that includes drinking a lot of alcohol, difficulties started to arise. After a while, Kristin filed for divorce and was granted interim child custody. They both accused each other of being bad parents at the time.

Tragically, Ricky lost his life in a plane crash a few months after they broke up.

In 1968, in Los Angeles, California, Gunnar, Rick, Tracy, Kristin, and Matthew Nelson posed for a picture. (Image courtesy of Getty Images and Michael Ochs Archives)

Rocky had trouble flying from the minute he began touring. In order to get over his worries and be able to tour and meet fans, he even went to psychotherapy sessions.

Ricky was getting ready to go with his twins to a New Year’s Show in Dallas. The artist, however, had a peculiar feeling about the trip and made the last-minute decision to phone his children to let them know they would not be traveling on the plane with him.

“That trip, we were meant to be on the plane. Just before we were scheduled to travel to Alabama to meet our dad and take a plane with him to the Dallas New Year’s Eve show, Gunnar said, “our dad called us.”

Regretfully, Ricky’s then-girlfriend Helen Blaine and he boarded a DC-3 jet that caught fire. The pilot managed to land the aircraft, but the passengers perished.

Ricky Nelson Gunnar and Matthew Nelson, his twin kids, are remembered while they play at City Winery Nashville on July 30, 2017 in Nashville, TN. Photo by Getty Images.

There were rumors that the gasoline heater on the aircraft was malfunctioning. The actual cause of the catastrophe is yet unknown, though.

Prior to the fatal flight that took his life, Ricky had a gut sense that helped avert a much bigger disaster.

His boys carry on their father’s heritage as independent musicians today.

Matthew describes the project as “an ongoing labor of love, an open letter to our dad, who was our best friend.”

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