Gene Vincent (born Vincent Craddock)
February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971
Gene Vincent was one of rock ‘n roll and rockabilly’s early pioneers. After what he thought was going to be a life long career in the U.S. Navy, Vincent turned his sights on music after a motorcycle accident shattered his leg and left him unable to continue to serve. In 1956, he and his Blue Caps released his first and biggest hit, “Be-Bop-A-Lula,” a song that Rolling Stone magazine placed at #102 on their list of the 500 Greatest Rock and Roll Songs of All Time. While touring Europe in 1960, the driver of a cab in which he and Eddie Cochran were traveling crashed into a pole. Vincent suffered serious injuries, but Cochran died the next day. Vincent was never able to recapture his glory after the British Invasion even though he tried to connect with folk rock and country rock fans in later years. While visiting his father in California on October 12, 1971, Gene Vincent died from a ruptured stomach ulcer at the age of 36.
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