Gram Parsons — Joshua Tree and Pioneering Country Rock

Gram Parsons was obsessed with the Joshua Tree desert and the High Desert landscape east of Los Angeles, and he died there on September 19, 1973, at the Joshua Tree Inn, of a drug overdose at the age of 26. His body was subsequently stolen from Los Angeles International Airport by his road manager Phil Kaufman and taken back to Joshua Tree, where it was burned with five gallons of petrol at Cap Rock in the National Monument — in accordance with what Parsons had reportedly told Kaufman he wanted. The spot at Cap Rock where the burning occurred is a pilgrimage site for Parsons devotees.

Parsons had invented what he called 'Cosmic American Music' — a fusion of country, rock, soul, and gospel that produced the International Submarine Band, the Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968), the Flying Burrito Brothers, and two solo albums with Emmylou Harris as his vocal partner. His influence on country rock was foundational: the Eagles, the Desert Rose Band, and ultimately the entire alt-country movement descend directly from his vision. Keith Richards was his close friend and acknowledged Parsons's role in turning the Rolling Stones toward country on Exile on Main St.

Cap Rock in Joshua Tree National Park is freely accessible to the public — it is a large rock formation on the park road, with a short walk from the parking area. The Joshua Tree Inn, where Parsons died, still operates as a motel at 61259 Twentynine Palms Highway. Room 8, where he died, can be booked by guests.