John Denver

John Denver, whose '70s hits such as "Rocky Mountain High'' and "Take Me Home, Country Roads'' gained him millions of fans worldwide, was killed when his experimental plane crashed into Monterey Bay. He was 53. "He loved flying,'' said Teri Martell, whose sister Annie was Denver's first wife. "He died doing something he loved.'' The identity of the body pulled from the waters was confirmed from fingerprints sent from Colorado, Monterey County Sheriff Norman Hicks said today. An autopsy was planned. The plane, which Denver owned, was made of fiberglass with a single engine and two seats. It was built by Rutan Aircraft in Mojave, according to a woman who answered the telephone at the plant. She wouldn't give her name and wouldn't comment further. The company is owned by the aviation pioneers Dick and Burt Rutan. Dick Rutan gained fame 10 years ago with Jeana Yeager for the first nonstop, unrefueled flight around the world in the experimental plane Voyager, designed by Rutan's brother Burt. Denver's plane took off from Monterey Airport shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday, with the first reports of a crash at 5:27 p.m. Only Denver was aboard. The plane was flying about 500 feet in the air "when it just sort of dropped unexpectedly into the ocean,'' Pacific Grove police Lt. Carl Miller said. "When it hit the water it broke into numerous parts.'' Witness Carolyn Pearl told KCBA-TV that she saw a puff and heard a "popping'' sound before the crash. The plane "kind of went up a little bit and absolutely straight down, not spiraling, just absolutely straight down,'' she said. "I thought it was doing some kind of acrobatic move, or something, and then realized it wasn't.'' "I saw it hit the water and then a big splash of water came up over it,'' said another witness, Linda Shuman. "There was debris everywhere and the birds were in a frenzy. There were pieces everywhere.'' Denver, a licensed pilot, was in a previous plane accident in April 1989. He walked away uninjured after the 1931 biplane he was piloting spun around while taxiing at a northern Arizona airport. "We are all very broken up over this,'' said a family friend, Jerry McClain. "The person John was in public was the person he was personally.'' He was born Henry John Deutschendorf Jr., the son of an Air Force pilot, when his father was stationed at Roswell, N.M. He took his stage name from the Colorado city where he eventually made his home. In the mid-'60s, he was chosen from 250 other hopefuls as lead singer for the Chad Mitchell Trio as a replacement for the departing Mitchell. But the trio's best years were behind it by then, and he left in 1969 for a solo career. That same year, his song "Leaving on a Jet Plane'' became a big hit for Peter, Paul and Mary. Soon, Denver's own records -- melodic, light folk-pop with touches of country -- began climbing the charts as well. He scored with songs like "Sunshine on My Shoulders,'' "Annie's Song'' (written for his first wife), "Back Home Again'' and "Thank God I'm a Country Boy.'' He wrote many of his hits; even when they were by other songwriters, he made them his own. Fourteen of his albums went gold and eight were ranked as platinum, with more than a million units sold. The LP "John Denver's Greatest Hits'' is still one of the largest selling albums in the history of RCA Records, with worldwide sales of more than 10 million copies. He was named Country Music Entertainer of the Year in 1975. His trademark wire-rimmed glasses and handsome smile -- sort of a clean-cut hippie who could appeal to all generations -- made him a winner on countless TV specials. He appeared with Itzhak Perlman, Beverly Sills, Placido Domingo, Julie Andrews, and even Kermit the Frog, in a Christmas special called "John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together.'' Denver tried his hand at movies with a supporting role in the 1977 George Burns comedy "Oh God.'' He also appeared in a TV movie, "Foxfire,'' with Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn. He has strong appeal to overseas audiences as well, with many gold and platinum records in other countries. In 1985, he toured the U.S.S.R. in the first performances by an American artist since the suspension, at that time, of cultural exchanges between the United States and the Soviet Union. He was the first artist from the West to do a multicity tour of mainland China, in October 1992, and similarly in Vietnam in May 1994. "Music does bring people together,'' Denver once said. "It allows us to experience the same emotions. People everywhere are the same in heart and spirit. No matter what language we speak, what color we are, the form of our politics or the expression of our love and our faith, music proves: We are the same.'' In 1976, Denver co-founded the Windstar Foundation, a nonprofit environmental education and research center that works toward a sustainable future for the world. He also was active in fighting world hunger and had an avid interest in space exploration. He volunteered to go on the space shuttle, not as an entertainer but "as Everyman, as a world citizen.'' The explosion of the Challenger in 1986 and the death of the first U.S. civilian in space, teacher Christa McAuliffe, didn't deter his interest. After all, he said, "It's a risk to get up in the morning.'' Denver also has had his troubles. He was arrested in August 1993 on a drunken driving charge and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of driving while impaired. He was sentenced to probation and a $372 fine. The singer was arrested exactly a year later -- Aug. 21, 1994 -- on a second drunken-driving charge. The first trial ended in a hung jury; the second trial had been set for early next year. His former manager, Tim Mooney of Aspen, Colo., said Denver sometimes had trouble expressing himself in speech, but "he knew he could deliver with a guitar and his voice.'' He recalled that even though he was working during Denver's concerts, he always thought "he was singing only directly to me.'' He is survived by a son, Zachary, and daughter, AnnaKate, from his first marriage; his second wife, Cassandra Delaney; their daughter, Jesse Belle; his brother, Ron Deutschendorf; and his mother, Erma.