Things We've Learned About Patsy Cline Since Her Passing

Patsy Cline's star was on the rise when her life was tragically cut short in 1963. The singer was just 30 when she died in a plane crash, and in the time since, some seriously heartbreaking details have emerged. 

Like we said, Cline was still a young woman when she died, but it seems as though she had an inkling she might pass away prematurely. In fact, Cline's friend and fellow singer Dottie West recounted for Ellis Nassour's "Patsy Cline" that she believed she would die in her twenties. "I'll never live to see thirty," West recalled Cline telling her, adding that the "Crazy" singer doubled down when she'd told her not to say that. "Well, it's the truth. I'll never live to see thirty!" West remembered Cline saying in response. 

West wasn't the only famous face to have spoken to Nassour about Cline's seeming belief that her life would be short. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" singer Brenda Lee told the biographer, "I've always felt that Patsy had a premonition that she didn't have a whole lot of time here to do what she set out to do, and that accounted for her amazing drive." Well, she certainly did achieve a lot in her short life, and despite her comments to West that she would die in her twenties, she actually did live to see her thirtieth birthday. Sadly, though, her prediction hadn't been far off, and that birthday would also be her last. 

It's worth noting that before the plane crash that claimed her life, Patsy Cline had already survived two serious brushes with death, one of which was a near-fatal car accident. In fact, another friend who'd spoken to Ellis Nassour, Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires, shared that when Cline came in to record "Crazy," she'd just recently survived the crash. "She walked into the session on her crutches and looked at us and said, 'Well, fellas, the third time is charmed. ... The third time I go. If I have another accident, it's going to be all she wrote!'" Stoker recalled. Like Brenda Lee, Stoker also believed Cline had a feeling she might die young. "I don't think, from some of the strange things she said, that Patsy was planning on being around long," he said. 

Heartbreakingly, the last time Dottie West saw Cline, the singer once again made a haunting comment. She'd been determined to fly home from Kansas City to Nashville rather than drive, and West had been concerned about the bad weather, which had already closed the local airport. Cline's stance, however, was resigned. "When it comes my time to go, I'm just gonna go. Hoss, if that little bird goes down, I guess I'll go down with it," West recalled of Cline's last words to her. 

Of course, as fans of Cline know, the plane did crash, killing her and all the other passengers on board. The site of the crash has been commemorated with a stone and a plaque, and continues to be visited by those who love Cline and her music. While her untimely death remains devastating, we hope it brought some of her close ones some comfort knowing that she was already at peace. What's more, decades later, Cline's music lives on.