Bluesman Vaughan Dies in Copter Crash

A helicopter carrying Grammy-winning blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, three members of rock legend Eric Clapton’s entourage and a pilot slammed into a hill in dense fog early today, killing all aboard, authorities said.

Vaughan, 35, had just finished a performance with Clapton at Alpine Valley Music Center.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigator said the five-seat Bell 206 Jet Ranger helicopter flew into the side of a 1,000-foot ski hill.

Workers at Alpine Valley said there was dense fog after the show.

Clapton’s Los Angeles press agent, Ronnie Lippin, said the other victims were Bobby Brooks, Clapton’s booking agent; Nigel Browne, Clapton’s bodyguard, and Colin Smythe, one of Clapton’s tour managers. The name of the pilot was not released.

Charles Comer, a spokesman for Vaughan in New York, said he was told that Vaughan had taken a seat on the helicopter at the last minute.

“Stevie and his brother, Jimmie, and Jimmie’s wife, Connie, were there” backstage after the concert, Comer said. “Peter Jackson, Eric Clapton’s manager, came in and said there might be some spare seats. He came back later and said, ‘I’m really sorry, but there’s only one seat.’ Stevie said, ‘Do you mind if I take the seat? I really need to get back.’ ”

Vaughan, whose style combined the best of Jimi Hendrix and the old blues masters, normally was not part of the Clapton tour but was added to the Alpine Valley show Saturday and Sunday.

Vaughan had a platinum album with his band, Double Trouble, in “Couldn’t Stand the Weather,” released in 1984. In 1985, he shared a Grammy Award for best traditional blues recording with several other artists for a compilation album called “Blues Explosion.”

This year, he won a Grammy in the contemporary blues category for “In Step.”

Vaughan was born Oct. 3, 1954, in Dallas. He followed his brother, Jimmie, also a well-known musician in the band the Fabulous Thunderbirds, from Dallas to Austin in 1972.

Going from club to club and band to band, Stevie Ray Vaughan developed a rocking Texas roadhouse blues style. In 1981, he formed the band Double Trouble. The band caught the attention of record producer John Hammond, who helped Vaughan find a record label.

Guitar Player Magazine cited Vaughan as the best electric blues player in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1988, finally naming him to its “Gallery of the Greats” in 1989.