John Denver

John Denver was an American folk singer and songwriter who became one of the most popular singers of the 70s.

In his early career he toured the folk clubs of Los Angeles and in 1965 joined the Chad Mitchell Trio. By 1969 he had decided to go it alone and released his first album Rhymes and Reasons, which contained the track "Leaving on a Jet Plane", which became a hit for Peter, Paul and Mary the following year. He released two more albums in 1970, and Poems, Prayers and Promises in 1971, which was his breakthrough, largely on the strength of the single "Take Me Home, Country Roads". Two more years of consolidation followed before the hit singles started to flow, including "Rocky Mountain High", "Sunshine on my Shoulders", "Annie's Song", "Back Home Again", "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" and "I'm Sorry/Calypso". Denver undertook a lot of television work in support of his music, and formed a special association with The Muppets with whom he appeared several times. He released 16 albums at the height of his career in the 70s and went on to release nine in the 80s and seven in the 90s.

Although his image was that of a conservative, clean cut, happy-go-lucky person, he became increasingly outspoken about politics in the late 70s, and devoted himself to humanitarian causes especially as his music career became less of a focus.

A keen pilot in his spare time, Denver died in 1997 after crashing his plane off the Californian coast. He was 53.