Stevie Ray Vaughan1954-1990
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Stevie Ray Vaughan
1954-1990
The first flash comes over the Associated Press wire at
about 7 a.m. on Monday, August 27, 1990: “Copter crash in East Troy, Wisconsin.
Five fatalities, including a musician.”
Keen-eyed staffers at the Austin American Statesman catch that item and begin
putting two and two together. The AP updates its story every half hour with
fresh details: The mysterious “musician” becomes “a member of Eric Clapton’s
entourage”—and then, “a guitarist.” By 9:30, rumors spread that Stevie Ray
Vaughan was aboard the doomed craft.
At 11:30, Clapton’s manager confirms the worst: Vaughan was indeed among the passengers in the five-seat helicopter, which slammed into a fog-shrouded hillside near southeastern Wisconsin’s Alpine Valley ski resort. Stevie Ray had boarded the aircraft after he and a stellar cast of guitarists that included Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan and Buddy Guy performed before a crowd of 25,000 at a blues show at the resort. The wildly successful show concluded with Vaughan, Clapton and the others taking part in an all-star finale/jam on Robert Johnson’s “Sweet Home Chicago.” It was a short time after this triumph that Stevie Ray met his fate.
On Friday, August 31, just a few days after the accident,
more than 3,000 of the faithful gather at Laurel Land Memorial Park in Dallas,
Texas, braving 100-degree heat to say farewell to Stevie Ray. Stevie Wonder,
Bonnie Raitt and Billy Gibbons, among others, join the assembled mourners in an
emotional chorus of “Amazing Grace.” Crowding the burial site are more than 150
floral arrangements that have been sent from around the world. Nearby stands a
placard: “We will cherish what you have given us and weep for the music left
unplayed.”
—Bill Milkowski
