Sleepy-eyed and slack-jawed, the boy next door "smuggled rock and roll...into America's unsuspecting living rooms," music critic David Hinckley observed. Nelson had already had one iconic life as America's favorite son, and now he'd been reborn into another: rock and roll idol, a phrase used to anoint him by LIFE magazine. In his second act he was blazing, even sprinting past Elvis for a short time. By the time he dropped they from his name, at 21, Rick's balance sheet included nine gold singles, 35 million records sold and a yearly income of about $400,000.
Act 2 ended when the British pop-music invasion forced him off center stage. His marriage to Kris Harmon produced four children (actress Tracy, twin musicians Gunnar and Matthew, and Sam, a high school senior) but eventually withered, along with his finances. Rick's last hit had been 1972's "Garden Party," a smack back at those who booed him for singing new material during a rock revival at Madison Square Garden. There was no Act 3. Nelson died on New Year's Eve, 1985, when his plane crashed en route to a Dallas concert. He was one of the few actor-singers who could claim real success in both worlds. Observed rock historian Greg Shaw: "In addition to his moody sex appeal and television sinecure, he also happened to have real talent."
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
