This month marks 17 years since the life of the singer/songwriter/actor/photographer/activist was cut short when the experimental plane he was piloting plummeted into the ocean off Monterey Bay, Calif., on Oct. 12, 1997. Denver was 53.
Earlier this month his legacy was bolstered when he was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a month-long gallery exhibit of his treasured photographs opened. And in early November, another event will celebrate Denver's life and career: the release of a 90-song box set that represents his hit singles and virtually every one of the albums he recorded in his lifetime.
On Oct. 24, Denver's children, Jesse Belle Denver and Zak Deutschendorf, were on hand in California to help unveil his star on the fabled Hollywood Walk of Fame and to accept the honor on behalf of the family. Leron Gubler, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce president/CEO, declared, "We are proud to honor one of America's singing icons who has been missed for many years. Luckily for us we have his amazing music to remember him by."
Also on Oct. 24, never-before-seen photographs of Denver - an accomplished photographer who traveled the world capturing remarkable images - went on view in Hollywood at the Substrate Gallery. The open to the public exhibit, "Sweet, Sweet Life: The Photographic Works of John Denver," features 40 examples of Denver's considerable photographic talents. The gallery will be showing and selling limited editions of the singer's personal photography. The exhibit is open until Nov. 23.
Then, on Nov. 4, to celebrate Denver's extensive recording career, a new box set showcasing 90 songs on four CDs is being released. "All of My Memories: The John Denver Collection" covers Denver's work from 1964 to 1997. It includes six previously unreleased tracks, along with song demos, live performances, private recordings, and more. The guest artists on the collection are Olivia Newton-John, Emmylou Harris, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Mitchell Trio, Sylvie Vartan, Placido Domingo, the Muppets and others.
All of these October and November events underscore the importance of Denver's lasting legacy and the impact he had on the musical fabric of our lives.
Now, are you ready to check out 20 Things You Don't Know About John Denver? OK, here we go...
1. You no doubt know that Denver was born Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., but did you know that he actually started using Denver as a stage name in about 1964 – long before he ever moved to Colorado? He thought "Denver" related to majestic mountains and the rolling countryside.
2. He was offered the lead role of Zack Mayo in 1982's "An Officer and a Gentleman." He passed on the opportunity, declaring that the script "read like a 1950's movie." The part was instead given to Richard Gere.
3. He only had eight toes. Two were sliced off in a lawn mower mishap.
4. His body was cremated. His ashes were scattered over the mountains that he revered – Colorado's Rocky Mountains.
5. The estate where John Denver lived is called Starwood.
6. When he wrote "Leaving On A Jet Plane" – which became a huge hit for Peter, Paul and Mary – he was trying to capture the loneliness he was experiencing while performing across America with the Chad Mitchell Trio. The song's original title was "Babe, I Hate to Go."
7. His two grandmothers helped shape his musical career. Some of his fondest moments in life were made on his grandmother's farm in Corn, Okla., where he was introduced to classic country music. His other grandmother also played a major role in his career when she gave him his first guitar at age eight – an antique Gibson.
8. Denver wrote "Take Me Home Country Roads" with Bill and Taffy Danoff – but he came close to never writing the song. While on the way to listen to the start of the song the Danoff's had created, he got in a car accident and was taken to a hospital for a thumb injury. Then Danoffs were hoping to get Johnny Cash to record the song, so they almost didn't play it for Denver. They didn't think it fit his style.
9. He performed his final concert a week before the tragic plane crash that claimed his life. The concert occured in Corpus Christi, Texas.
10. He wrote many songs about love. The plane he was piloting on the fateful day of his death crashed about 100 yards offshore from a very popular landmark known as "Lover's Point."
11. In the wake of the space shuttle Challenger disaster on Jan. 28, 1986, when the shuttle blew up 73 seconds after lift-off, killing the entire crew, Denver wrote "Flying For Me." He wanted to honor the life of Christa McAuliffe, who was to be the first teacher in space, and the rest of the ill-fated crew.
12. He attended the School of Architecture at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. It was a brief stay. He dropped out. But, while there, he sang in a folk music group called the Alpine Trio.
13. He founded the World Hunger Project in 1977, and President Jimmy Carter personally appointed him to the commission on World and Domestic Hunger.
14. His father, whose nickname was "Dutch," was a U.S. Air Force test pilot. Denver was often at odds with his conservative dad, and he once tried to run away from home. However, after his dad died of a heart attack, he penned "On The Wings Of A Dream" to celebrate his memory.
15. He made his movie acting debut in 1977 in "Oh, God!," co-starring George Burns. The film was a minor box-office hit, but Denver's acting career didn't really take off. He was regulated to television roles until 1997 – when he starred in "Walking Thunder," Craig Clyde's outdoor adventure film.
16. The Colorado State Legislature officially adopted "Rocky Mountain High" in March 2007 as the second official Colorado State Song, joining "Where the Columbines Grow" adopted in 1915.
17. As a child, Denver liked to sit alone in eucalyptus trees.
18. The best-selling albums of his career were "Poems, Prayers, and Promise" in 1971 – which was powered by the hit "Take Me Home, Country Roads," "Rocky Mountain High" in 1972 and "Back Home Again" in 1974 – and featured the smash hits "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" and "Annie's Song" (reportedly written in just ten minutes while Denver was waiting on a Colorado ski lift).
19. He performed in the Soviet Union and in Communist China. He toured the Soviet Union and recorded a song, "Let Us Begin (What Are We Making Weapons For?)," with Russian vocalist Alexandre Gradsky. Denver later performed a concert in the Soviet Union as a benefit for the survivors of the deadly Chernobyl nuclear-plant meltdown. And in 1992, he had another career benchmark, when he became one of the first Western pop artists to tour in modern-day Communist China.
20. Memorial services followed Denver's private funeral in his beloved Colorado. On Oct. 17, 1997, some 2,000 people mourned his death at the Faith Presbyterian Church in Aurora, Colo. The next day, an additional service at the Aspen Music Tent Amphitheater, was attended by about 1,500 people.
