John Denver was a folk singer who became a global icon with a career spanning four decades. His hits, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, and “Leaving On A Jet Plane” have become standards the world over, and his huge catalog is still celebrated more than twenty years after his tragic death at the age of just 53. Here are amazing things you may not know about the life, career, and tragic death, of musical legend, John Denver.
Army Brat
John's father was a military pilot, which would set the tone for the early part of Denver’s life. Wherever Captain Deutschendorf was posted, the family would follow. As a self-proclaimed “Army Brat”, along with his parents and younger brother, Denver would find himself moving often and living in many different places throughout his childhood.
Their home towns included Tuscon, Arizona; Montgomery, Alabama; and Forth Worth, Texas. Captain Deutschendorf was a stern man, according to Denver, and not the most emotional of fathers to his two sons. He was, however, an outstanding pilot, setting speed records and being inducted into the Air Force Hall of Fame. He taught Denver to fly when the singer reached his thirties, which would have an enormous impact on his life.
He Felt Lost
Moving around so much meant that Denver didn’t have a stable social life growing up. He was introverted and shy and struggled to make friends, finding that he spent a lot of time alone. Denver just didn’t feel like he fit in and was always looking for the place that felt right for him.
That place certainly wasn’t Alabama where he attended a segregated school, an officialization of racism that never sat right with Denver. Nor was it Texas, from where Denver drove to California in search of somewhere to start his music career, only to be brought back by his father to finish school. He was most comfortable away from people and with nature, and it was the country that would inspire much of his music.
Denver Is Not His Real Name
John Denver is a name that slips easily off the tongue. It has a ring of the rugged west, like a pair of jeans, or a country music star. And rightfully so—it was deliberately chosen to have that effect. Denver was born on New Year’s Eve, 1943, in the place now world-famous for its association with alien conspiracy theories: Roswell, New Mexico.
His parents originally named their son Henry John Deutschendorf Junior. When Denver started playing music, a fellow singer-songwriter, Randy Sparks, questioned whether Deutschendorf might be too long to fit on a marquee. This prompted the burgeoning talent to think about his stage name. He chose Denver because it was the capital of Colorado, his favorite state.
Grandmas Knew Best
Perhaps an unlikely source of inspiration to pursue dreams as a music star were John Denver’s grandmothers, both on his father’s side and his mother’s. These women contributed to the direction the young man decided to take his life. One introduced him to classic country music when he visited her farm in Corn, Oklahoma, the other gave him his first guitar.
On his 11th birthday, on the last day of 1954, Henry John Deutschendorf Junior was given a 1910 Gibson acoustic guitar. By the time he started college he’d learned the instrument well enough to play in local bars and clubs and from there, John Denver, and his incredible musical career, were born.
He Was a College Drop Out
After high school, Denver began studying architecture at the Texas Tech School of Engineering, but he would never graduate. While studying, he kept working on his music and sang in a folk music group named The Alpine Trio. During his time at the university, he made every effort to get fully involved in college life.
He even joined a fraternity, Delta Tau Delta. Despite his intentions and efforts, it would always be the call of the music that was strongest for him, and he dropped out in 1963 so he could move to Los Angeles. Once settled in the west coast’s most glamorous city, he set about developing his performance skills by singing in folk clubs.
He Channeled His Feelings Through Music
Though he released an incredible 30 studio albums and numerous hit singles, there are one or two songs that stand above all the others. One of these was among the first songs John ever wrote and recorded, originally titled “Babe, I Hate to Go” before changing it to “Leaving on a Jet Plane” which has become one of the best-known folk-country songs of all time.
Denver wrote it as a way to process how lonely he was feeling during his time on the road with The Chad Mitchell Trio. It struck a chord with listeners then and still does today. The most famous recordings of the song are actually covers. First by Peter, Paul, and Mary, then later by Chantal Kreviazuk for the soundtrack of the disaster movie, Armageddon, in 1998.
He Was Married Twice
John Denver wrote “Annie’s Song” during a ten-minute ride on a ski-lift in Colorado. It was a love letter to Anne Martell, his first wife with whom he adopted two children. The song “Rocky Mountain High” was also inspired by his time with Anne and a camping trip they took with friends. They lived together in Edina, Minnesota for three years from 1968 before moving to Aspen.
The couple divorced in 1982. It would be six years until Denver married again, to Cassandra Delaney, an Australian actress who he had been dating for two years. They had a daughter together, Jesse Belle, and were married for five years before divorcing in 1993, four years before Denver’s tragic death.
Annie's Song
Denver and Martell met in 1966 at a Minnesota concert and tied the knot a year later. However, as the singer’s career started taking off, the marriage began to crumble. In a 1979 People interview, Martell admitted she felt “insecure” in their relationship. They separated briefly, and Annie shared that “It was only six days, but felt like three months. I would get up at 4 am and start crying and continue until I went to sleep that night.”
After a long-distance phone call, she made it “clear that I loved him totally. What it came down to is that love is unconditional. We’ve had some bad times, but now we keep talking.”
Two Children and a Messy Ending
Denver was told he was unable to have children, so the couple adopted two kids: Zachary and Anna. “I feel an incredible bond with the women who gave birth to them,” Martell explained to People. “But they are totally our children.” Denver chimed in, asking, “How did we ever live without those little children? We were always meant to be together. It enhances everything.”
He continued, “At times I’ve got a really big ego, but I’ll tell you the best thing about me. I’m some guy’s dad; I’m some little gal’s dad. When I die, if they say I was Annie’s husband and Zachary John and Anna Kate’s father, boy, that’s enough for me to be remembered by. That’s more than enough.” Sadly, the marriage didn’t last. The couple ultimately divorced in 1982. Denver allegedly became abusive, almost choking Martell and even using a chainsaw to cut their bed in half.
His Second Short-Lived Marriage
In 1988, Denver married Australian actor Cassandra Delaney after dating for two years. The couple separated in 1991 and split up in 1993. The singer didn’t look back fondly on his marriage to Delaney. The couple had a daughter together named Jesse Belle.
He wrote about the relationship in his autobiography “Take Me Home,” saying, “Before our short-lived marriage ended in divorce, she managed to make a fool of me from one end of the valley to the other.”
He Had Run-Ins With the Law
Seems like the rockstar life caught up with Denver. In 1993, he pleaded guilty to a DUI charge and was placed on probation. Then, in August 1994, while still on probation, he was charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence after crashing his Porsche into a tree in Aspen. A 1997 trial resulted in a hung jury on the second DUI charge.
However, prosecutors reopened the case, which was closed only after Denver's death in October 1997. In 1996, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) determined that Denver was medically disqualified from operating an aircraft due to his failure to abstain from alcohol and directed Denver to abstain from alcohol if he wished to continue flying airplanes.
He Didn’t Have the Right Image
Though Denver’s talent was clear enough from the outset, he found himself struggling against the fashion of the time at first. His success began in folk bands such as The Chad Mitchell Trio - for which he out-auditioned over 250 people to join - but his initial attempts to step up as a solo artist were rebuffed by some in the industry.
The vogue in the mid-60s was for long-haired rock stars with a wild look and wilder antics. John Denver was a clean-cut folk guitarist with beautiful emotional songs. Harry Jenkins at RCA took a chance on him, though Peter, Paul, and Mary going to number one with "Leaving On a Jet Plane" won’t have done him any harm!
He Celebrated His Friendships
“Calypso” appeared on John Denver’s 1975 album, Windsong, featured as the B-side to his Number One single, “I’m Sorry”. Calypso was the name of Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s scientific exploration ship, and Denver wrote the song as a tribute to the work of his friend. The two men had met on a television special and formed a strong bond.
Cousteau’s scientific work was fascinating to Denver, a lover of nature and a keen conservationist, and he wanted to express his respect for Cousteau’s work in the best way he could, with a song. “Calypso” was immediately popular and considered by many to be the real A-side of the record, reaching number two in its own right. Cousteau died in 1997, just a few months before Denver.
His Name Was Set Alight
In 1975 John Denver was declared Entertainer of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards—one of the most controversial moments in CMAA history. Charlie Rich, an established country star himself, presented the award. He read out the title, removed the winning name from the envelope, and read it to himself. Then he removed a lighter from his pocket and set the paper containing Denver’s name aflame, announcing the victor as, “My good friend, John Denver.”
The winner was joining the ceremony by satellite link-up and found himself bemused by the whole event. Charlie Rich was banned from the CMAA for the incident but to this day nobody knows why he did it. Was it a protest again Denver’s “pop” sound, was it just an attempt at humor or was it the combination of painkillers he was on at the time?
He Could Have Been a Movie Star
One of the most iconic closing scenes of any '80s movie sees Richard Gere, in full naval uniform, carrying Debra Winger as the strains of “Up Where We Belong” by Will Jennings play out. The film An Officer and a Gentleman, released in 1982, alternatively, could have had John Denver doing the carrying.
Denver claimed to have declined the role, causing the studio to run castings in which they considered Jeff Bridges, Harry Hamlin, Christopher Reeve, and John Travolta - who is also said to have turned the role down - before the responsibility was given to Richard Gere. What a different movie that could have been!
Denver Loved Colorado, and Colorado Loves Him
The love affair between John Denver and Colorado is strong enough to bring a tear to the eye. As someone who enjoyed the wild outdoors, John Denver made no secret of his love for the varied and rugged state, with its snow-capped mountains and arid deserts. For a start, he took the state capital as his stage name.
After the success of his album, Rocky Mountain High, in 1972, Denver bought a home in Aspen and he lived there until he died. Colorado returned the appreciation, making John Denver the first inductee into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame and naming him the state’s poet laureate. If that wasn’t enough, they officially named Denver’s song, “Rocky Mountain High” as a Colorado state anthem.
He Has Missing Digits
If you need to count to ten, you can do it on your fingers, but if you need to get to twenty you’ll have to take your socks off—unless you’re John Denver. Like notes in an octave, Denver only has eight toes, the other two he lost to the blades of a lawnmower as a teenager. It may seem like an awful accident, but it’s possible it just might have saved his music career.
The young singer received his military notice in 1964 and would have been drafted into the Vietnam war effort with his brother had his lack of toes not caused the armed forces to declare him too disabled to serve. Luckily for the music world, he was able to stay home and concentrate on his songs.
The Hunger Project
Alongside Robert W. Fuller and Werner Erhard, John Denver founded The Hunger Project in 1977. He also wrote “I Want to Live” as the theme song for the organization which is dedicated to the final and sustainable end of hunger around the world, and is now a global non-profit raising and distributing tens of millions of revenue every year.
The project assists short, medium, and long-term initiatives in every corner of the world. John Denver was a committed activist and, in addition to his ongoing support of The Hunger Project, he lent his assistance to UNICEF on many occasions. In 1979 he played “Rhymes & Reasons” at a Music for UNICEF concert, donating the royalties to the cause.
He Was Involved in Other Projects Too
Recognizing that he was in a privileged position with his fame and the wealth that came with it, John was determined to use it to do good in the world. Besides The Hunger Project, Denver also founded the Windstar Foundation, which worked for wildlife preservation. He also put his name behind Friends of the Earth, The Cousteau Society, and Save The Children.
He began the Plant-It 2000 environmental group (later renamed Plant-It 2020) that performs worldwide tree planting. He visited Africa in the eighties to witness the struggles with poverty and hunger first-hand. He was honored by two U.S. Presidents for his contribution to humanitarian causes, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan both offered awards for his services.
He Wrote an Olympic Theme
The 1994 Winter Olympics took place in Sarajevo. Denver was a keen skier, prompting his love of the Rocky Mountains and his decision to settle in Aspen. He was asked to write a theme song for the network’s coverage of the event, titled “The Gold and Beyond” and performed it in local schools as well as for the Olympic athletes themselves.
During the event, Denver worked as both a performer and a commentator. It wasn’t the first time he’d stepped into the world of presenting, having hosted two Grammy award ceremonies in 1983 and 1984. In the first, he led an ensemble performance of two songs, “Let the Sunshine In” and “Blowin’ In The Wind” with Joan Baez, Donna Summer, Rick James, and more.
He Almost Went to Space
John took a keen interest in America’s space exploration and became involved with NASA. He was a huge supporter of the Citizens in Space program and worked diligently to encourage its inception and development. In 1985 he managed to pass the intense physical exam required by NASA for their astronauts.
In 1986, he was a finalist to be one of the first-ever Citizens’ Space Shuttle trip. In the end, he wasn’t selected, but remained a keen supporter and received a NASA Public Service Award for "helping to increase awareness of space exploration by the peoples of the world.” Tragically, in 1986, the Challenger shuttle exploded on take-off, and Denver dedicated his song “Flying For Me” to the astronauts who perished.
He Crossed Borders to Play
In 1985, John Denver became the first American artist to tour the Soviet Union in over a decade. He played 11 dates, a trailblazing enterprise which broke important ground in the cultural exchange between the two superpowers, and helped lay the foundations for other artists to play in the previously off-limits territory.
The same year, Denver took part in a Parents Music Resource Center hearing where he testified in front of the Senate on the topic of censorship. He returned to the Soviet Union in 1997 to play a tribute concert for victims of the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl. Five years later, he would travel even further, to play a range of dates in the People’s Republic of China.
Texas Was Always There
Considering how much John Denver wanted to get away from Texas when he lived in Fort Worth as a child, enough to take his father’s car and drive it to Calfornia, he never fully left the state behind. After graduating from Arlington Heights High School, he enrolled at Texas Tech to study architecture.
Of course, he did soon move out of the state, as he worked his way to his adopted home of Colorado, but it was back in Texas that John Denver would last ever set foot on a stage. On October 5, 1997, Denver played a show at Selena Auditorium in Corpus Christi. Exactly one week later, the singer was dead.
He Was Flying Illegally When He Crashed
That John Denver died tragically in a plane crash is widely known, but it’s less reported that he was flying without a license at the time. Denver was a good pilot, but when he took off from Monterey Peninsula Airport on October 12, 1997, he did not have a valid pilot’s license. John Denver died piloting a home-built aircraft he was not permitted to fly. Despite having over 2,700 hours of flight experience, the FAA had revoked his flight status for medical reasons for failing to maintain sobriety, though alcohol was not involved in the crash,
What’s more, the experimental Adrian Davis Long EZ aircraft he was flying was a known risk, with 61 crashes already attributed to it, 19 of which were fatal. Witnesses saw the plane plummet into the Pacific Ocean that afternoon, just off Lover’s Point, Monterey. John Denver was killed instantly. John Denver’s remains were found around 150 yards from the shore, and several pieces of his anatomy, including a large portion of his head, were missing. On October 13, 1997, the Monterey County Medical Examiner reported that the cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma. The Board also added that his lack of total experience in maneuvering the specific type of airplane also factored in the accident.
The Cause of the Crash Isn’t Known
The faulty positioning of a valve was the National Transportation Safety Board’s conclusion to explain John Denver’s crash. The handle the pilot needed to reach to switch between fuel tanks when the main tank ran dry, was placed awkwardly in the cockpit and the board believed Denver had accidentally pushed the plane into a nosedive as he struggled to reach it.
It was a known issue and one the plane’s designer had promised to fix for Denver before his tour ended. It was also noted that Denver hadn’t refueled before taking off, only intending a short pleasure flight. If he had, there’d have been no need to switch tanks as he flew. Denver also neglected to file a flight plan.
Some Were More Suspicious
The faults of the experimental plane were well known, and its safety record reflected that. Still, despite that some pilots felt there must have been something more to it. “To get the nose down like that,” George Rutan, pilot, and father of the plane’s designer, said. “You have to be real purposeful.”
Those who knew Denver did not believe he would have intentionally crashed that day. However, as an experienced pilot, he should have been able to address the control issues and been more diligent in his pre-flight preparation. The impact of the fall into the Pacific Ocean was so severe that it took the response team several hours to recover all parts of his body, which was found in pieces. He was ultimately identified through his fingerprints.
He Was Taken Home to Colorado
Though he was born in New Mexico, John Denver’s spiritual home was, without doubt, Colorado. After his tragic death, that’s where he was taken. As soon as he heard the news, State Governor Roy Romer ordered all state flags to be lowered to half-mast out of respect for the adopted son of Colorado.
Five days after his death, on October 17, 1997, a funeral service was led by retired Air Force chaplain, Pastor Les Felker at the Faith Presbyterian Church in Aurora, Colorado. After the service and cremation, Denver’s ashes were taken into the Rocky Mountains where they were scattered. It was the place he’d felt most at peace in life, and so the place he would be most at peace in death.
His Legacy Lives On
Over two decades after his tragic death, John Denver is as celebrated as he ever was. Colorado already honored him in many ways, but in 2002 a statue was added to the list of commemorations. Outside the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, a fifteen-foot bronze likeness of the artist and activist now stands. The “Spirit” statue depicts Denver with an eagle standing on his gloved hand, and a guitar strapped to his back.
Hollywood recognized the musician in 2014 when his star on the Walk of Fame was unveiled in conjunction with the debut of an exhibition of his work behind the camera named “Sweet Sweet Life: The Photographic Works of John Denver”. Two of Denver’s three children attended the unveiling ceremony, Jesse Belle Denver and Zachary Deutschendorf.
A Festival in His Honor
A six-day long John Denver Celebration has taken place in Aspen, Colorado, every year since the first anniversary of the singer’s death. Launched in 1998 and now established as a regular feature of October for over 20 years, the event brings together artists, tribute acts, and fans, for a week of performances, interviews, tours, and just a general appreciation of the legacy left behind by the iconic singer-songwriter.
Attendees come to hear the music, swap stories and experience the beautiful part of Colorado that John Denver chose to call home. Highlights include tribute concerts at the historic Wheeler Opera House, visits to the John Denver Sanctuary, and a luncheon concert at the Pine Creek Cookhouse. A fitting tribute for a man who loved the area as much as he loved the music he made in its honor.