Stevie Ray Vaughan was an American guitarist who gained worldwide fame as
one of the founders of Double Trouble. He was killed in the crash of a
helicopter piloted by Jeff Brown on the side of a ski hill at Alpine Valley
Resort in East Troy, Wisconsin on Monday, August 27, 1990; Vaughan had
just performed at the resort's amphitheatre with Double Trouble. He was
pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, where it was stated that all
of the victims were killed instantly. Shortly after local news stations
reported Vaughan's death, crowds gathered at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas
for a candlelight vigil. He was buried on August 30, 1990, at the Laurel Land
Cemetery in Dallas. Death
On the morning of August 26, 1990, Vaughan told his band and crew members
about a horrible nightmare in which he was at his own funeral and saw thousands
of mourners. He felt "terrified, yet almost peaceful." Backstage after the
show that evening, the musicians talked about playing together again,
particularly with Eric Clapton for a series of dates at London's Royal Albert
Hall in February and March 1991, as a tribute to Jimi Hendrix. Moments later,
Peter Jackson, Clapton's tour manager, said that the weather was getting worse
and they had to leave soon. According to Double Trouble drummer Chris Layton,
Vaughan's last words to him were, "I love ya."
Dew was settling on the windshields of the four helicopters waiting to
transport the performers back to Chicago. Stevie Ray, his elder brother
Jimmie Vaughan, and his wife Connie made their way to their reserved helicopter,
a Bell 206B Jet Ranger booked by Omniflight Helicopters and manned by
Jeff Brown, a 42-year-old veteran pilot. Peter Jackson, one of Clapton's tour
managers let Vaughan know that three seats were reserved for himself, Jimmie,
and Connie. Upon arrival, they discovered that their seats had been
taken by members of Clapton's crew, agent Bobby Brooks, bodyguard Nigel
Browne, and assistant tour manager Colin Smythe. Vaughan, wanting to get back to
Chicago, asked Jimmie and Connie if he could take the last seat, saying "I
really need to get back." They obliged and caught the next flight in Lake
Geneva with Layton and Jimmie's manager, Mark Proct.
At 1 a.m., the helicopters departed in dense fog at two-minute intervals. Jeff
Brown, occupying the right seat in the cockpit, guided the helicopter off the
golf course, remaining at a high speed and slightly lower altitude than the
others. It banked sharply to the left and crashed into the side of a
300-foot-high ski slope, about 0.6 miles from takeoff. All on board were killed
instantly. With no fire or explosion, the bodies and debris were scattered
over an area of 200 square feet. Nobody was aware of the crash until the
helicopter failed to arrive at its destination the next morning.
At 7 a.m., a Wisconsin Civil Air Patrol search helicopter, carrying sheriff's
deputies, found the wreckage, which was 50 feet below the summit of the hill.
Shortly after, Clapton and Jimmie Vaughan were called to the morgue to
identify the bodies. According to an autopsy report, Vaughan had suffered
many unsurvivable injuries, such as transection and dissection of the aorta,
multiple depressed skull fractures, ruptured spleen and liver, along with
fractures of the right thigh bone and ribs. An investigation found that no
drugs or alcohol were involved, and all victims had worn seatbelts. No
mechanical failures or malfunctions were found with the helicopter. Pilot Jeff
Brown was instrument rated and had many hours of experience operating the Bell
206B at night. According to the National Transportation Saftey Board, the cause
of the accident was deemed to be controlled flight into terrain; Brown
simply could not see the hill due to low visibility.
Aftermath Vaughan's death triggered an outpouring
of grief and shock around the world. The album Family Style was released in
September 1990 and became Vaughan's best-selling non-Double Trouble album;
it was the only collaboration that he recorded with Jimmie Vaughan. On August
30, 1990, Vaughan was buried at Laurel Land Memorial Park in Dallas. Funeral
services were held, with over 1,500 people attending and 3,000 more outside
the chapel. His fiancée, Janna Lapidus, Jimmie and Martha Vaughan were in
attendance. Among the other mourners were Stevie Wonder, Buddy Guy, Dr. John,
ZZ Top, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Nile Rodgers.
Omniflight, the company that owned and operated the helicopter, was sued for
negligence by Martha and Jimmie Vaughan. They claimed that Pilot Jeff Brown
operated the helicopter recklessly while under Visual Flight Rules in Instrument
Meterolocgical Conditions. The lawsuit ended in a settlement. The widows of
Clapton's bodyguard, Nigel Browne, and assistant tour manager, Colin Smythe,
received more than $2 million in settlements.
Memorials and tributes Jimmie Vaughan later co-wrote and
recorded a song in tribute to his brother and other deceased blues
guitarists titled "Six Strings Down". Bonnie Raitt's 1991 album Luck of the
Draw was dedicated to him. Many other artists recorded songs in remembrance of
Vaughan, including Eric Johnson, Tommy Emmanuel, Buddy Guy, Steve Vai, Ezra
Charles and Wayne Perkins. Stevie Wonder, whose "Superstition" Vaughan
covered, honored him with "Stevie Ray Blues" on his 1995 live album Natural
Wonder. Musicians such as Joe Bonamassa, John Mayer, Robert Randolph, Kenny Wayne
Shepherd, Mark Tremonti, Chris Duarte, Colin James, Los Lonely Boys, Mike
McCready, Eric Johnson, Orianthi, John Petrucci, and Doyle Bramhall II have
cited Vaughan as an influence. An annual motorcycle ride and concert in
Dallas Texas benefits the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Scholarship Fund. The
city of Austin erected the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Statue at Auditorium
Shores on Lady Bird Lake, the site of a number of his concerts. It has become
one of the city's most popular tourist attractions. Since 1998, St. Louis has
hosted an annual Stevie Ray Vaughan Tribute Concert around Thanksgiving
featuring local musicians. In 2000, Vaughan was inducted into the Blues Hall
of Fame. He also became eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. In
2008, residents voted to rename Dallas' Industrial Boulevard, with Vaughan's
name being one of the finalists alongside Stanley Marcus, Eddie Bernice
Johnson, and César Chávez. Notes
Bibliography Leigh, Keri. Stevie Ray: Soul to Soul.
Lanham: Taylor Trade Publishing. Patoski, Joe Nick; Bill Crawford. Stevie
Ray Vaughan: Caught in the Crossfire. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-16068-1.
Kitts, Jeff. Guitar world presents Stevie Ray Vaughan: ... from the pages
of Guitar World magazine. Hal Leonard. ISBN 978-0-7935-8080-4.
Gregory, Hugh. Roadhouse blues: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Texas R&B. San
Francisco: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-747-9.
Dickerson, James. The fabulous Vaughan Brothers: Jimmie and Stevie Ray. Lanham:
Taylor Trade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-58979-116-9.
Everitt, Rich. Falling stars: air crashes that filled rock and roll
heaven. Atlanta: Harbor House. ISBN 978-1-891799-04-4.