Died On This Date (June 3, 1975) Ozzie Nelson / Popular Band Leader & TV Star

Ozzie Nelson
March 20, 1906 – June 3, 1975

OzzieOzzie Nelson was a popular radio and television personality and band leader.   By the early ’30s, Nelson was fronting his Ozzie Nelson Band who had a hits with “Over Somebody Else’s Shoulder” and “It’s Gonna Be You.”  In 1935, Nelson married the band’s singer, Harriet Hilliard and together they had two sons, David and Ricky Nelson, who went on to have successful music career himself.  In the mid-’40s, Nelson created a radio program, The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriett, and when he moved it over to television in 1952, David and Ricky took over the roles that had been previously played by actors on radio.  Throughout the show’s run, Nelson helped groom Ricky’s music career by having the budding heart-throb perform his early rock n’ roll songs on the air.  Ozzie Nelson died of liver failure on June 3, 1975.

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Ozzie Nelson & His Orchestra (50 Songs) - Ozzie Nelson

 

Died On This Date (December 31, 1985) Rick Nelson / Singer-Songwriter & Actor

Rick Nelson
May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985

ricknelson

Rick Nelson’s career in entertainment began when he was just nine years old playing himself alongside his father, Ozzie Nelson; his mother, Harriet; and brother, David in the popular television show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.   In 1957, when Nelson was 17, he performed his first song on the show and instantly became a pop star and teen idol.  Over the course of his career, he released over 50 charting singles, 19 of which landing in the top 10.  His first single was a 1957 cover of Fats Domino’s “I’m Walking.”  It became one of his signature songs.  Most of his records from the early part of his career veered toward the rockabilly side of pop, but by the early ’70s, he and his Stone Canyon Band were making country rock.  He was one of the first of a scene that included the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne.   Unfortunately, many of his fans didn’t appreciate the change as evident at an infamous concert at Madison Square Garden where the audience booed him whenever he tried to perform his newer songs.  That experience lead to him to write and record “Garden Party,” a song that reached #6 on the Billboard chart and would be his last hit record.  On December 31, 1985, Rick Nelson along with his fiance and two members of his band were killed when the small plane in which they were traveling to a show crash landed due to a fire on board.    Despite rumors that the fire was caused by the band freebasing cocaine, it was determined that a faulty heater most likely caused it.  Nelson was later inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.

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Legacy - Ricky Nelson