This 50s Era Teenage Heartthrob Saved His Twin Sons From A Deadly Plane Crash

Oct 04, 2023

Ricky Nelson, born Eric Hilliard Nelson, was into TV and movie acting when he decided to branch out into music. He was the son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, stars of the hit sitcom, “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” The whole Nelson family was involved in show business as Ricky’s older brother David joined the show when he was 10, while Ricky debuted when he was eight. When Ricky turned 17, he appeared in an episode of his family’s show titled “Ricky, the Drummer.” The song “I’m Walking,” which he performed on that show, was later produced and issued as his debut single. It immediately rose to the number 4 spot on Billboard’s list of best-selling albums.

Ricky was a Gardner Street Public School student during that period, although he later transferred to Hollywood High School. As a student, Ricky disliked learning, much to Ozzie’s dismay, as the latter wanted his son to get a college degree. Nevertheless, Ricky didn’t require a college education because he was already making more money than most established adults when he approached his university years. The teen idol was already making close to $100,000 annually. 

From 1957 to 1962, Ricky had more top 40 hits than any other artist except Elvis Presley and Pat Boone. Some of his most successful hits include “Garden Party,” “It’s Late,” “Fools Rush In,” “For You,” “Poor Little Fool,” and “Travelin’ Man.” Ricky started dating Kristin Harmon in 1961. They had similar backgrounds, and their families were very good friends. The couple married in 1963 and welcomed four children: Tracy Kristine Nelson, twins Matthew Gray Nelson and Gunnar Eric Nelson, and Sam Hilliard Nelson. Ricky died in a plane crash in 1985 but saved his twin sons from the same fate. Keep reading for the details. 

Ricky’s children didn’t have it easy after his passing. Eighteen months after his death, their uncle, actor Mark Harmon, filed a petition for custody of Tracy's youngest sibling, Sam, based on his sister Kristin's emotional instability. It became a public affair, and Tracy believed the stress from the ordeal caused her to fall sick.

Tracy was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, a cancer affecting the lymph nodes and spleen, shortly before her wedding to ex-husband Billy Moses in 1987. While working on the set of her hit series, “Father Dowling Mysteries,” Tracy discovered that her health continued to fail. She got clarity about what was wrong with her after a prophetic dream. Tracy recalled to People: 

“My father called me on the phone and said, I know you miss me, but it’s not time for you to die. You have to go see a doctor.”

She did, and the medical examination showed a tumor the size of a grapefruit in her chest. Tracy was shocked as her grandfather had died of liver cancer. Moses’ dad had an incurable throat cancer around the same time. However, the whole family rallied around Tracy, and after a seven-hour procedure plus bi-weekly chemotherapy that sapped her strength, she recovered. 

Although she was worried that the treatments would render her infertile, she welcomed her daughter, Remington Moses, almost four years later. Still, Tracy suffered a hemorrhage days after her daughter’s birth. 

“I was sobbing. This is it. It has all been too good to be True. I’m going to die, and I’m never going to see my baby again,’” she told People. 

Tracy went home four days later, and although she has had two more scares with cancer, including breast cancer, she is thriving and is a great mom to her two kids, Remington and Elijah. 

Tracy’s twin brothers also had it tough. Although they had to pay Ricky’s $4 million debt after his death, they were often regarded as trust fund babies. 

Meanwhile, they were also musicians, and Ricky was their best friend. “He’d come to see our show,” they told Closer Weekly.

Ricky supported their career, but Kristin refused to acknowledge it. She tried to dissuade them from choosing that path and constantly told them they would never succeed. 

One time, when Kristin asked for a ticket to their 8,000-seater show, she gave the tickets to her housekeeper. Another time that she showed up with her new husband, she didn’t stay until the end. She later told the boys she was unimpressed. 

Kristin resented Ricky’s profession and blamed the collapse of their marriage on his tour schedules. However, Gunnar and Matthew have said she was a “narcissist” and an alcoholic who refused to take responsibility for her part in the collapse of her marriage.

Ricky was 45 when he lost his life on one of his tours. He had a show in Dallas. Meanwhile, Gunnar and Matthew, then 18, wanted to take the band’s plane for the first time and spend New Year’s Eve together, but Ricky canceled their plans at the last minute. He insisted that they fly a commercial plane to meet him. Ultimately, his insistence saved the twins as everyone on board the plane died except the pilot and copilot. 

Gunnar opined, “I think it’s likely he just had a gut feeling, and our family’s pretty intuitive, and we kind of go with things like that.” 

In an interview with CNN in 2005, the Nelson family disclosed that they heard about Ricky’s demise from the media. It shattered the family, who had no inkling before the news was aired.

Do you know any of Ricky Nelson’s songs? Which ones are your favorites? Let us know — and be sure to pass this on to fans of the late musician.