Matthew Nelson is a American singer-songwriter and musician who, with his twin brother Gunnar Nelson, is a member of the multi-platinum-selling band Nelson, which had a #1 hit in 1990 with the single “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection”. Entertaining is encoded in Nelson family DNA – his father was pop star Ricky Nelson, his mother was actress Kristin Harmon, the sister of TV superstar Mark Harmon and grandson of Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Nelson.
Ok now that you know he comes from generational Hollywood status, I’ll be even more exact about his father’s death discovery. Matthew was on a date, driving, listening to the local rock station and he thought it was pretty cool that they were playing one of his father’s songs.
“The disc jockey came on after they played Garden Party and he was choked up and said ‘that was a tribute to Ricky Nelson who was killed earlier with his entire band in a plane crash outside of Dallas’,” Matthew recalled. “I was with a girl at the time and she just grabbed me and said ‘it can’t be true’ and all I remember is running out of the car and passing out.”
According to Wikipedia, American pop singer Ricky Nelson died during the attempted crash-landing of his band’s aircraft on December 31, 1985. The plane, a Douglas DC-3, was brought down mid-flight outside De Kalb, Texas, by a fire that rapidly spread from a suspected faulty in-cabin heater. Nelson and six others—including several band members and his girlfriend—were killed in the accident.
“I was supposed to be on the plane with my brother,” Matthew said.
That’s the thing about being a reporter or working in the media, there’s a level of professional decorum that is supposed to accompany “breaking news” or “first reported by”. In today’s social media world, I have no idea how many people have found out about a loved one’s passing from checking their Facebook account. I can tell you how Matthew Nelson’s brother Gunner found out in 1985, before cell phones, DirectTV and the Internet.
“My brother found out from a news anchor and it’s been a love hate relationship with the media ever since,” Matthew said. “We understand it’s a necessary evil we have to deal with, but for whatever reason they didn’t give us the courtesy or the benefit of letting us know through discreet channels.”
The interview did bring some balance to the scales of media justice with former news anchor Dan Rather’s passionate fist pounding refusing to report any more on Ricky Nelson’s death.
“I saw Dan Rather pound his fist on the news and say ‘this is irresponsible journalism and I will not be a part of it, it’s not fair to him or his family and I am not going to besmirch his name anymore’,” Matthew said. “I still to this day have not seen anyone in the media take a stand for a celebrity like that.”
Matthew opened up to me on that day about his father’s death. More specifically the who, what, when, where and how regarding his family’s emotions and personal backlash from the event. That’s the thing with emotional triggers and specific memories, you never know how someone will process their own personal grief and sorrow.
“Here we are talking about it 35 years later and it still feels fresh to me,” Matthew said. “I still feel like he’s out on the road and I’m waiting for him to come home.”
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Interview and article by Jason Spiess. Spiess has over 39 years of media experience from being the host to the publisher to an editor to the executive producer to having principal ownership in several media companies.
Spiess is a full-time father, cancer survivor, environmentalist, author and graduate of North Dakota State University. Spiess also operates an off-the-grid office integrating sustainable solutions, including the best practices with an Industrial Forest and Digital Diversity.
ReGeneration X The Podcast: Musician Matthew Nelson talks Paradigm Shift, Father's Death