As a 24-year-old millennial from New England you’d probably never guess that one of my favorite Folk artists is John Denver. Well, I was only six years old when Denver’s plane went down in Monterey Bay, California so I couldn’t understand the depth of his tragic death until much later in life.

When I was 20 years old in 2010, I found an old CD of Denver’s music that belonged to my parents. The 90s rendition of “Annie’s Song” is the first song I heard by him. Now, not only did I find myself falling in love with his music, but I found a spiritual respect for the artist. As a Christian I believe in the afterlife, so it was like I felt his spirit nearby when I sang his music. Whether or not Denver’s spirit was actually near me or if it was all in my head is irrelevant. Denver’s music made me happy and helped to heal me in a rough point in my life. For instance, my cat Jack got run over, and a close friend of mine committed suicide among other tragic events in 2010.

For how Denver’s music helped lull me out of depression and back into spiritual and emotional health, I’ve decided to become an environmentalist and will help the Earth anyway I can. Today, I’m sure that John is in heaven smiling down on his fans, friends, and family right now. I’m just so sorry that he had to pass away so suddenly as I feel like he still had so much to live for. So with that I wish happy would be 70th birthday to John Denver, RIP to the one who now flies with Eagles and Hawks.

I wanted to find the video of his final performance and mix it into stereo as a personal birthday gift, but it seems that the video was removed from YouTube for some reason. Here are some of personal favorite songs of his, including ones from his latest tribute album “The Music is You”: