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Pick a Day

Music History Events: Crashes

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November 19, 1954 While driving from Vegas to Los Angeles, Sammy Davis, Jr. crashes into another car on Route 66 in San Bernardino, California, and three days later, permanently loses use of his left eye. While in the hospital, friend Eddie Cantor tells Davis about the twin struggles of the Jewish and African-Americans, leading Davis to convert to Judaism. (The accident, paradoxically, increased his popularity.)

August 2, 1953 Skeeter Davis, still a member of the Davis Sisters, breaks both her arms and legs in a car crash near Cincinnati, Ohio, a crash which also kills fellow Davis "sister" Betty Jack Davis.

September 8, 2017 Troy Gentry of the country music duo Montgomery Gentry dies in a helicopter crash en route to a gig in Medford, New Jersey. He was 50.

August 3, 2016 Days after performing at Portland's Moda Center, Modest Mouse singer Isaac Brock causes a 5-vehicle accident when he falls asleep at the wheel and crashes into a pickup truck. No serious injuries are reported.

February 13, 2016 All four members of the promising English group Viola Beach are killed, along with their manager, when their car crashes on a bridge near Stockholm. Coldplay pay tribute by covering their song "Boys That Sing" at the Glastonbury Festival.

September 26, 2015 The day after releasing his debut album, Up Next, rapper Fetty Wap is injured in a motorcycle accident in Paterson, New Jersey, when he collides head-on with an oncoming vehicle. His injuries put him out of action, but thanks to the hit single "Trap Queen," the album climbs the charts and hits #1 while he's still in the hospital. When Fetty returns to the stage on October 22 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, he does his set from a specially designed throne with his injured leg elevated.

June 4, 2013 Joey Covington (drummer for Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna) dies in a single-vehicle accident in Palm Springs, California, at age 67.

August 15, 2012 Members of the metal band Baroness are injured when their tour bus falls off the road while traveling in England. Lead singer John Baizley's left arm is shattered and his left leg broken; drummer Allen Blickle and bass player Matt Maggioni each suffer spinal fractures. Baizley manages to keep his arm and resume his duties as frontman/guitarist, but Blickle and Maggioni leave the band.

October 12, 2011 Joel 'Taz' DiGregorio, keyboard player in the Charlie Daniels Band, is killed in a car accident before the band's gig at the Cumming Country Fair in Tennessee. DiGregorio, who was 67 at the time of his death, co-wrote many songs with the group, including "The Devil Went Down To Georgia."

March 11, 2011 A pregnant Jewel is involved in a car accident when a volunteer fire truck slams into her Cadillac in Stephenville, Texas. Thankfully, no one is seriously injured.

December 28, 2010 Southern rocker "Mean Gene" Kelton dies at 57 when his SUV collides with a school bus in Crosby, Texas.

February 14, 2010 Blues musician Lil' Dave Thompson dies in a car accident at age 40.

December 6, 2009 Weezer's tour bus crashes, forcing them to cancel the rest of their tour. Frontman Rivers Cuomo is injured, but is back in action six weeks later.

June 5, 2006 Elliot Easton of The Cars breaks his clavicle when the band's tour bus swerves to avoid an accident, and Easton falls out of the bunk. Performing with "The New Cars" fronted by Todd Rundgren, he plays four shows in a brace before getting surgery, which ends the tour.

December 9, 2003 Ozzy Osbourne crashes his quad bike, breaking several bones, including his collarbone, and fracturing vertebrae. The injuries are considerable, but not life-threatening.

December 3, 2000 Kevin Mills, Newsboys' former bassist, is killed in a motorbike accident. He was 32.

December 14, 1989 It's a Beautiful Day vocalist Pattie Santos dies in a car accident in California at age 40.

January 26, 1986 Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Allen Collins is left paralyzed from a car accident that kills his female companion. He can't play with the re-formed band the next year, but chooses his replacement: Randall Hall.

November 3, 1979 Days before his 18th birthday, teen idol Leif Garrett, under the influence of drugs and alcohol, crashes his mother's Porsche 914 en route to buy cocaine. He escapes serious injury but his best friend, Roland Winkler, is left a paraplegic.

December 10, 1967 Keyboardist Ronnie Caldwell dies in a Wisconsin plane crash along with three of his Bar-Kays bandmates and Otis Redding, one week before his 19th birthday.

December 10, 1967 Drummer Carl Cunningham dies in a Wisconsin plane crash along with three of his Bar-Kays bandmates and Otis Redding. He was 18 years old.

January 24, 1961 Mel Blanc, who was the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and many other cartoon favorites, gets in a horrible car accident on a stretch of road in Los Angeles known as "Dead Man's Curve." Hearing the news, Roger Christian is inspired to write a song about the treacherous turn.

May 13, 1934 Hymn composer William Golden dies in a traffic accident near Eupora, Mississippi.

March 10, 1934 Mary Bregovy, known for her rendition of "I Guess It Doesn't Matter Anymore," is killed in a car crash at age 21.

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