Reba McEntire is remembering her bandmates who died in a plane crash in 1991. The Happy’s Place star shared a special tribute on Instagram 34 years later.
“Always in our minds, thoughts, and prayers no matter how many years have passed,” she wrote on her Instagram Story on Sunday, March 16. “Love and miss you all.”
On March 16, 1991, eight of McEntire’s band members and crew were killed in a plane crash in Otay Mountain in California. McEntire had a private show in San Diego the night before the tragedy. Two planes were waiting at Brown Field Municipal Airport to take the country singer and her band to Fort Wayne, Indiana, for their next show. However, McEntire, her then-husband and manager Narvel Blackstock, and her stylist Sandi Spika chose to stay in San Diego that night while the rest of her crew got on the planes.
One of them made it to the destination safely. On the other, the jet’s wing hit a rock on the side of the mountain, killing everyone onboard.
McEntire opened up about the tragedy during a 2012 interview with Oprah Winfrey. “The tip of the wing of the airplane hit a rock on the side of Otay Mountain, and it killed everyone on the plane,” she said. “When we were notified, Narvel went and met with our pilot, and he told us what had happened. And Narvel came back to the hotel room where I was — it was 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning — and he said one of the planes had crashed, and I said, ‘Are they okay?’ He said, ‘I don’t think so.’ I said, ‘But you’re not sure?’ He said, ‘I don’t think so.’”
“Narvel was going room to room with a phone and calling …” McEntire said as tears sprung in her eyes. “I’m sorry — it’s been 20 years, but it’s just like — I don’t guess it ever quits hurting. but I can see that room. I can see Narvel walking back and forth.”
“It was the worst thing to ever happen in my life. I just can’t imagine how my band and pilot’s family feel. I lost friends. They lost family members,” she said. “Don’t go a day without telling people you love them.”
Some of McEntire’s friends, including Vince Gill and Dolly Parton, offered their bands for the rest of her tour, but she declined. She also didn’t want to continue on with the rest of the tour, but Blackstock thought she should. Instead, the former Voice coach decided to make an album called For My Broken Heart, which was dedicated to the band members that she lost. The album went on to sell four million copies and reach number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.
On the 33rd anniversary, McEntire shared the names of those who died — Chris Austin, Kirk Cappello, Joey Cigainero, Paula Kaye Evans, Jim Hammon, Terry Jackson, Tony Saputo, and Michael Thomas — on an Instagram post. She also shared a lyric from the album: “I guess the world ain’t gonna stop for my broken heart.”
