Denver, John

▪ 1998

      American singer and songwriter (b. Dec. 31, 1943, Roswell, N.M.—d. Oct. 12, 1997, Monterey Bay, Calif.), was identified by his wholesome, sentimental music that extolled nature's and life's simple pleasures. He began playing folk songs on the 1910 Gibson guitar that his grandmother gave him when he was 12. In the mid-1960s Denver moved to Los Angeles, where he adopted the name of the capital of Colorado, a state whose natural beauty he especially loved, and began performing with the Chad Mitchell Trio. His first songwriting effort, "Leaving on a Jet Plane," was recorded in 1967 by Peter, Paul, and Mary and became a number one hit in 1969. His first solo album, Rhymes and Reasons, was released that same year. In 1971 he recorded the million-selling single "Take Me Home, Country Roads," and that was followed by the evocative "Rocky Mountain High" (1972) and the smash hit "Sunshine on My Shoulders" (1974). Playing an acoustic guitar, Denver gained an international following with his clear tenor voice and homegrown lyrics. Along with 14 gold and 8 platinum albums, he received honours ranging from poet laureate of Colorado (1974) to the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year (1975). Although Denver had reached his commercial peak in the mid-1970s, with such albums as Greatest Hits (1973), Back Home Again (1974), and Windsong (1975), he continued to record and perform, starring in a number of television specials and in the motion picture Oh, God! (1977). A tireless advocate for wildlife and land conservation, Denver cofounded (1976) the Windstar Foundation, and his 20 years with UNICEF reflected his commitment to eradicating hunger and poverty. His wholesome image suffered in the 1990s, however, when he was twice arrested for drunk driving in Aspen, Colo., where he resided for many years. Although he was an experienced pilot trained by his father, an air force officer, Denver died when the handmade experimental airplane he was flying crashed off the coast of California.

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