When a famous person perishes in an accident or plane crash along with others, it always seems to be the famous person who gets the most ink. That is rather unfair, I believe. Case in point: the 1963 plane crash that took the life of country singer Patsy Cline. The two other passengers who also lost their lives were Hawkshaw Hawkins and Cowboy Copas. (The pilot, Randy Hughes, was killed as well.) They have sadly vanished into the mist of history. Those men were stars when they died. Why did they get marginalized?
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Patsy Cline's Death Has Been Extensively Chronicled; Not So With The Other People On The Plane
Per The Tennessean, "In the half-century following the plane crash, Cline has been the subject of a feature film, a stage play and several biographies, while the lives of Copas, Hawkins and Hughes have been less studied. The focus on Cline alone has been hurtful to some of those left in tragedy's wake."
The lives and careers of all three mattered. Maybe they did not, from today's viewpoint, attain the same degree of fame as Cline, but they counted too.
Even Charlie Dick, Cline's widower, agreed. Per the outlet, he said, "'When that plane went down, Copas was the biggest star onboard,' Cline's widow[er], Charlie Dick, told Opry announcer, country music historian and WSM air personality Eddie Stubbs five years ago."
Sometime later, Dick added more to that sentiment. "Usually, today, Patsy seems to get top billing. But Patsy was a big fan of Copas and Hawk, and they were stars. Everybody on that plane was important to the music business. And all of them were top dogs."
More About Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, And Randy Hughes
All three men were exceptional. And talented. They each had impressive resumes. Hawkins scored a chart-topping song, "Lonesome 7-7203." Hughes, at 34, was already a capable manager for Cline. And Copas was a guitarist and skilled musician.
Hawkins' wife, Jean Shephard, reportedly chafed at the attention Cline received, as opposed to the scant scrutiny that the others' deaths got.
According to The Tennessean, Shepard set the record straight. "A lot of people think during this time that I've hated Patsy Cline. And that's not the story at all. I resented the way it was presented, like she was the only person on that airplane. ...I lost as much as Charlie Dick did. He lost a wife."
