19 Country Stars Who Died in Tragic Crashes

It's always a tragedy when a person dies before their time, and when the death happens unexpectedly — as in the cases of those who die in vehicle crashes — the death is especially shocking to those who love them.

These 19 country artists and music industry members lost their lives while trying to get from Point A to Point B — whether that means they died in a plane crash, bus crash, helicopter crash or car crash. Quite a few of the artists on this list died while traveling for work: One met her end while on a simple drive from her house to her gig at the Grand Ole Opry, while three separate stars tragically lost their lives together, on board a plane headed back to Nashville after a gig.

Some of these crashes happened while the artist in question was doing something they did regularly — for example, John Denver was a seasoned pilot whose plane went down after unexpected problems arose — while others died in senseless, one-off accidents. Who could forget how a simple pleasure excursion in a helicopter led to the untimely death of Troy Gentry — one half of Montgomery Gentry — in 2017?

Flip through the gallery below, and take a moment to remember the beloved country greats we lost in vehicle-based tragedies.