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John Denver was born on December 31, 1943, and he was an American singer and songwriter. John Denver is associated with the popularization of acoustic folk music in the 1970s and he is seen as a cultural icon of the American West.
The music career of John Denver started with folk music groups in the late 1960s. He became one of the most popular acoustic artists of the decade and one of its best-selling artists in the 1970s.In 1974, John Denver was considered one of America’s best-selling performers.
He was the composer of 200 out of 300 songs that the released. He had 33 albums and most of his works were certified Gold and Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA. John Denver’s sales record can be estimated to be about 30 million units and he is known to perform with an acoustic guitar.
He made appearances on several charts and achieved 12 gold and four platinum albums with his signature songs such as “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, “Poems, Prayers & Promises”, “Annie’s Song”, “Rocky Mountain High”, “Calypso”, “Thank God I’m a Country Boy”, and “Sunshine on My Shoulders”.
In the 1970s and 1980s, John Denver was known to have made appearances in several films and television specials. He was named poet laureate of the state in 1974.
John Denver Cause of Death
John Denver died on October 12, 1997. He was 54 years old at the time of his death. John Denver’s light homebuilt aircraft, a Rutan Long-EZ with registration number N555JD, crashed into Monterey Bay near Pacific Grove, California.
He was then making a series of touch-and-go landings at the nearby Monterey Peninsula Airport. He was the only person in the aircraft when it crashed. The cause of his death was multiple blunt force trauma resulting from the crash.
Personal Details
The parents of John Denver are Erma Louise (née Swope; 1922–2010) and Captain Henry John “Dutch” Deutschendorf Sr. (1920–1982). John Denver’s father was a United States Army Air Forces pilot stationed at Roswell Army Air Field.
He set a number of air speed records in a Convair B-58 Hustler in 1961. John Denver had his education at Mansfeld Junior High School and for two years, he was a member of the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus.
His family relocated to Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas. John Denver graduated from Arlington Heights High School.
While he was in his third year in high school, because he was distressed with life in Fort Worth, he drove his father’s car to California to visit family and friends and also begin his music career. He was subsequently brought back by his father who flew to California using a friend’s jet.
Marriage
John Denver’s first marriage was to Annie Martell of St. Peter, Minnesota in 1967. Between 1968 and 1971, they lived in Edina, Minnesota. John Denver and Annie Martell adopted a boy, Zachary John, and a girl, Anna Kate.
Unfortunately, John Denver and Annie Martell divorced in 1982. John Denver later married Australian actress Cassandra Delaney in 1988 and they lived in Denver’s home in Aspen. They had a daughter; Jesse Belle. They divorced in 1993.
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