Stuck in a Moment Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rock

Only aged 22 when he died, Buddy Holly had nevertheless made a significant impact in 1950s rock and roll. Starting with country and western, he blended this with R&B before following Elvis Presley into rock and roll while developing his characteristic vocal hiccup style of singing. Hit songs included "That'll Be the Day" and "Peggy Sue" (both 1957) as well as, at the time of his death, many incomplete recordings which allowed his record company to release new material for the next ten years.

The airplane crash in which Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson died along with the pilot is sometimes referred to as "The Day the Music Died", after the reference to the crash in the 1971 song "American Pie' by Don McLean. The chartered flight crashed soon after take-off on a night flight which the pilot was not qualified to fly.

Answer: Rock

Ronnie Van Zant was the founding lead vocalist and main lyricist of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. The band was initially formed in 1964 and named My Backyard. Various name and line-up changes followed. Success came in 1973 with their debut album and what became their signature song "Free Bird" (1973). "Sweet Home Alabama" (1974) was their biggest hit and came from the second album.

It all came to a temporary halt when a chartered flight ran out of fuel and crashed. Various band members died included Ronnie Van Zant. Although seriously injured, twenty others survived. Scottish rock band Nazareth had a lucky escape when they decided against accepting an offer of a lift on that flight. The band Lynyrd Skynyrd was reformed ten years later by Van Zant's brother Johnny.

Answer: Rock

Both an actor and recording artist, Ricky Nelson had 54 songs in the Billboard Hot 100 (and predecessors) between 1957 and 1973. He made a move towards country-rock in the 1960s however most of his success was on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1985 his band's Douglas DC-3 crash-landed possibly following a fire in the cabin due to a faulty gasoline-fuelled cabin heater. Seven died; both pilots however survived.

The plane was at one time owned by Jerry Lee Lewis and had a history of mechanical problems.

Answer: Country / Folk

Virginia Patterson Hensley, better known as Patsy Cline, was one of the first country music singers to successfully cross over into pop music. In the early 1960s she had hits with "I Fall to Pieces", "Crazy" and "When I Get Through With You", amongst others.

She had a month in hospital following a car accident before she released her single "Crazy" (1961), however her career was to come to an end after the crash of a Piper Comanche chartered flight. The pilot was flying under visual flying rules and poor local visibility contributed to the accident. All four occupants died.

Answer: Country / Folk

Formed in 1999, the country music duo Montgomery Gentry consisted of the Kentucky natives Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry. Five number one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart came from 20 chart singles (from six albums). In 2017 and due to perform at the airport later than evening, Gentry was on a helicopter sight-seeing tour when the throttle twist-grip control failed.

The pilot elected to turn the engine off and descend by autorotation, however the descent speed was excessive. Both occupants died.

Answer: Country / Folk

Henry John Deutschendorf, known professionally as John Denver, was a country and folk singer who became a best-selling artist in the 1970s with such songs as "Take Me Home, Country Roads" (1971), "Annie's Song" (1974) and "Rocky Mountain High" (1972).

He continued to record into the 1990s. He was an avid pilot and died after crashing his recently-bought home-built light aircraft in 1997. The actual cause of the accident was an inability to switch fuel tanks during flight, the badly-placed fuel lever being behind the pilot and not easily accessible.

Answer: Jazz

Glenn Miller was a big band conductor as well as a trombonist. His band Glenn Miller and his Orchestra was one of the more successful in the big band era. "Chattanooga Choo Choo" (1941) was the first song to received a gold record and featured in his first film, the 1941 movie "Sun Valley Serenade".

He enlisted in 1942, formed the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra and entertained the troops during World War II. He went missing in action in 1944 along with two other officers during a flight across the English Channel.

Answer: Jazz

A trumpeter and leader of the jazz-rock band Chase, Bill Chase was born William Edward Chiaiese in 1934. His father also played the trumpet and encouraged his son in a musical direction. He spent most of the 1960s as part of Woody Herman's Thundering Herd before going freelance.

He set up his jazz rock band Chase in 1971 and put out a few albums. The plane crash came in 1974 when he was in the middle of recording a fourth studio album. His chartered Piper Twin Comanche crashed with six dying including three fellow band members.

Answer: Jazz

Jazz saxophonist and flautist Gerry Niewood spent most of his career as a session musician. He released various albums as a principal and as a sideman with Walter Bishop Jr., Chuck Mangione, Gap Mangione and various others. Niewood and jazz guitarist Coleman Mellett were scheduled to play as part of Chuck Mangione's band in February 2009.

They were killed along with 48 others when a scheduled passenger flight crashed, probably as a result of the pilots failing to react to stall warnings appropriately.

Answer: R&B/Blues/Soul

An influential musician in the soul music and rhythm & blues genres, singer and songwriter Otis Redding was 26 years of age when he died. Nicknamed "King of Soul", he drew inspiration from gospel music as well as singers such as Little Richard and Sam Cooke with most of his music characterised as Southern soul. Along with Steve Cropper, he wrote "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" in 1967.

He recorded it twice, the second time three days before his death in 1967. The song became the first posthumous chart topper on the Billboard Hot 100. Flying in Redding's Beechcraft H18 aircraft in poor weather, seven died and one survived when it crashed into Lake Monona.

Answer: R&B/Blues/Soul

With nicknames like "Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop", Aaliyah Dana Houghton sang, danced, acted and modeled. She received multiple awards and nominations including three American Music Awards during her short career. Along with eight others, she died in 2001 at the age of 22 when her overloaded aircraft crashed shortly after take-off in the Bahamas.

Answer: R&B/Blues/Soul

Stevie Ray Vaughan (SRV) is best known as a blues guitarist. Most of his mainstream success came while he was fronting the blues rock trio Double Trouble. SRV was part of the development of the Texas rock-blues style with his music being rooted in blues, rock and jazz.

In 1990 he played in support of Eric Clapton at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. Using helicopters was the standard way for music acts to arrive and leave the venue. He was in one of four helicopters being used that night with poor visibility blamed for the crash in which Vaughan and four others died.