Patsy Cline Had 2 Brushes With Death Before She Died at Age 30
Country legend Patsy Cline is an icon who inspired many other country superstars, so some people are surprised to hear she only lived to the age of 30. Unfortunately, she was killed in a tragic accident in 1963, but she also came close to dying twice before her untimely death.
How did Cline die at such a young age? Plus, what two near-death experiences did she have in her short life before that?
Patsy Cline’s death on March 5, 1963
After finding iconic success in country music in the ‘50s, Cline’s life and career were cut short when she died in a plane crash on March 5, 1963. According to Rolling Stone, her manager, Randy Hughes, was piloting the aircraft and flew into bad weather.
The plane nose-dived into the woods in Camden, Tennessee and Cline, Hughes, and two other Grand Ole Opry stars are presumed to have all been killed on impact. They were less than 100 miles from their destination of Nashville, where Cline was living in a home near the city with her husband and two young children. A memorial now marks the site where the plane went down.
Notably, fellow country superstar Reba McEntire counts Cline among her own musical influences. And in 1991, she lost most of her band in a similar accident — a plane crash that killed everyone onboard.
Patsy Cline was in a deadly car accident in 1961
Less than two years before Cline’s tragic death, she was involved in a head-on collision that ejected her through a vehicle windshield. Others in that accident died, but she eventually recovered. However, not without permanent facial scars and chronic pain.
Even after a month in the hospital, it was still hard for Cline to sing some notes. Still, it wasn’t long before she was ready to make music again.
Notably, the first song she recorded once she was physically able was the country classic “Crazy,” written by a then-unknown singer/songwriter named Willie Nelson. She recorded the song in one take, then performed it at the Grand Ole Opry while still on crutches.
Patsy Cline faced death as a teenager
Prior to each of those accidents, Cline almost didn’t survive illness in her childhood. According to the Daily-News Record, she was hospitalized in an oxygen tent with rheumatic fever and a throat infection at 13. But the harrowing experience actually left her with a bit of a gift for the music world.
“You might say it was my return to the living after several days that launched me as a singer,” she said in a 1957 interview. “The fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice like Kate Smith’s.”
So, it seems that particular bad experience came with a silver lining for the “Your Cheatin’ Heart” crooner. But battling death at such a young age left an impression on her. As mentioned by PBS, people who were close to Cline said she had “uncanny premonitions” about imminent death.
But seemingly, Cline wasn’t fearful of her notions. Instead, she knew she had to fit a lot of life into each day. And in retrospect, it looks like she did. Despite a limited collection of songs, her influence is still prominent among women in country music to this day.
