When 1950s Teen Idol Ricky Nelson Died in a Fiery Plane Crash, Rumors Swirled That Cocaine Was to Blame. Now, His Family Is Speaking Out (Exclusive)
- - When 1950s Teen Idol Ricky Nelson Died in a Fiery Plane Crash, Rumors Swirled That Cocaine Was to Blame. Now, His Family Is Speaking Out (Exclusive)
Virginia ChamleeDecember 20, 2025 at 1:00 AM
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Studio portrait of Ricky Nelson -
A new book is delving into rumors that cocaine had something to do with the plane crash that took pop star Ricky Nelson's life
Nelson was 45 when he and six others died during the crash-landing of his band's aircraft on December 31, 1985
At the time, rumors circulated that some members of his band had been free-basing cocaine, which started the fire — but a new book by his sons seeks to debunk that
A new book is revealing previously unreported details about the plane crash that took pop star Ricky Nelson's life.
Nelson was 45 when he and six others died during the crash-landing of his band's aircraft on December 31, 1985. The plane, a Douglas DC-3, caught fire mid-flight near De Kalb, Texas. Both pilots survived the crash.
The musician and actor shot to fame with his role in his parents' television show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. But he became a teen idol in the 1950s and 1960s with hits like "Poor Little Fool" and "Travelin' Man."
His death was shocking — even more so when rumors began to circulate that some members of his band had been free-basing cocaine, which started the fire.
But Nelson's sons Matthew and Gunnar Nelson write in their forthcoming book, What Happened To Your Hair, the rumors were nothing but fiction.
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Speaking to PEOPLE in an exclusive interview, the brothers say the plane crash was not the sole reason they wrote the book — but they do hope to to put to rest the rumors surrounding it.
"It's been a lifetime of misperception, but ... it's really been a Nelson's job, throughout the last 100 years of entertainment, to make people forget about reality," Gunnar muses. "Our whole family was about making people forget about the bills they had to pay, or the relationship they had that was going down in flames and all that."
He adds that the book is "really the first opportunity to set the record straight" — not just about their father's plane crash but also their family's greater legacy.
As they write in their new book, the cocaine rumor was nothing more than a "completely fabricated conspiracy" they claim was started by a journalist at the time.
The brothers — identical twins who shot to fame in their own right after launching hard rock duo Nelson in the early 1990s — detail that the journalist was "apparently walking around the smoldering wreckage of the plane in a farmer’s field just outside of Texarkana about a week after the crash, talking to one of the investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board. The investigators were at the point in the investigation where they were dismantling what was left of the plane to take to a local warehouse, where investigators would reassemble the plane the best they could to determine a definitive cause."
"They were going through the cargo hold at the time and combed through everyone’s luggage that was stored in the back of the plane. Shampoos. Conditioners. Cans of Aqua Net hairspray," they write.
They continue: "The reporter saw them and asked, 'Will you be checking for free-basing cocaine on the plane?' to which the NTSB man answered, 'We check for everything.'"
"Just on that alone, the reporter launched his salvo, which got picked up on the AP wire. Something along the lines of 'COCAINE FREEBASING BEING INVESTIGATED AS THE CAUSE OF RICKY NELSON’S PLANE CRASH!' The press was merciless for what seemed like forever."
The rumors only ended, they add, when Dan Rather interrupted a broadcast to say he would not be fanning the flames of the rumor any longer.
Elsewhere in the book, Gunnar and Matthew write about the plane itself, a "classic World War II–era DC-3 that he’d bought from Jerry Lee Lewis."
"Our father loved the plane for a bunch of reasons," they write. "The first was, it was the aviation equivalent of a classic ’65 Mustang. Elegant and classy. Second, it had the Jerry Lee Lewis mojo, which I’m sure played no small part in Pop’s just having to have it. The third reason is that having his own plane allowed him to make shows that he otherwise would have had to pass on, because you’re obviously able to dictate your own flight schedule when you own the plane."
Archive Photos/Getty
American singer, musician and actor Ricky Nelson (1940 - 1985) performing on stage with bassist James Kirkland and guitarist James Burton circa 1958.
And while their father was "deathly afraid of flying," he felt safe in the DC-3, which he referred to as "the flying bus."
"He reasoned that both engines could go out on the plane, and you’d be able to simply glide to a safe landing in any field anywhere. He clearly never considered that there could ever be any problems with a plane other than the engines going out, but that was just like him. He was a simple guy."
The boys themselves were meant to be on the plane the day it crashed — writing in the book that they had planned to fly commercial to to Alabama and take the plane with their dad to Dallas for a concert at a Holiday Inn with he and his band. But shortly before, Ricky called them to say he'd changed his mind.
The duo writes that they had "one of the best (and last) conversations" with their father "that would change us forever" just days before his death — on December 27, 1985.
The brothers had just played their first sold-out concert with their band The Nelsons, and their father had attended incognito, hiding near the back.
After telling them he loved them, Ricky added, "No, what I mean is, after tonight, I not only love you as my sons, but I admire you as my peers."
"You could have bowled us over with a trouser cough," they write. "Most kids go their whole lives without ever earning, let alone hearing, that from their parents. It was one of the best gifts we've ever received."
What Happened To Your Hair? is on sale now.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
