Introduction
What John Denver Said About Love, Regret, and the Woman He Could Never Forget
Before the plane crash that took his life in 1997, John Denver had begun opening up about the parts of his past that still lingered in his heart — especially when it came to love.
Best known for his soul-stirring hits like “Annie’s Song”, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, and “Sunshine on My Shoulders”, Denver’s music was filled with warmth, longing, and a deep connection to life’s simple truths. But behind the golden voice and gentle smile was a man who had experienced both great joy — and deep personal regret.
In one of his final interviews, Denver reflected on his first wife, Annie Martell, the muse behind one of his most beloved songs.
“I wrote that song for her in ten minutes,” he once said about Annie’s Song. “Every word came straight from the heart. It was the truest thing I’d ever written.”
Their marriage lasted from 1967 to 1982 — and though it ended in divorce, John never stopped speaking of Annie with a kind of wistful reverence.
“She was the love of my youth,” he quietly admitted. “I didn’t always do right by her. But I never stopped loving her.”
Those who knew Denver best say that in his final years, he often looked back with a sense of yearning — not for fame or success, but for the simple beauty of the life he once had with her. The laughter. The quiet mountain mornings. The love that inspired so much of his greatest work.
Though he remarried briefly and had other relationships, it was Annie’s name that remained gently woven into his songs and spirit — long after they’d gone their separate ways.
“If I could say one thing to her now,” he once said, “it would be thank you. For loving me at my best — and forgiving me at my worst.”