John Denver (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), born Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., was an American folk singer-songwriter and folk rock musician who was one of the most popular artists of the 1970s. He recorded and released some 300 songs, about half of which he had composed, and was named Poet Laureate of Colorado in 1977. Denver's songs were suffused with a deep and abiding kinship with the natural world. Songs such as "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "Leaving on a Jet Plane", "Calypso", "Annie's Song", "Thank God I'm a Country Boy", and "Rocky Mountain High" are popular worldwide. Denver has been referred to as "The Poet For the Planet", "Mother Nature's Son" (based on The Beatles song he covered) and "A Song's Best Friend". Early years Denver was born in Roswell, New Mexico to Erma Louise Swope and Henry John Deutschendorf, Sr.,http://www.wargs.com/other/denver.html an Air F