Ingram Cecil Connor III (5 November 1946 –
19 September 1973) performed with the stage name Gram Parsons. Born in Winter Haven Florida, he attended Harvard University, where he became interested in country music. He took that genre to an entirely different place, com-bining the sounds of country, R&B, folk and rock.

He performed as a solo act and was also a member of the Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers. He worked with Emmylou Harris on his first solo album, GP. Unfortunately, it failed commercially, as did his second album, Grievous Angel. He fell into a spiral of alcoholism and drug abuse and died in 1973. He was 26 at the time.

In the years that followed his death, Parsons has come to be recognized as an influencer in the development of alternative country, country-rock and Americana. The Rolling Stones and The Eagles both name Parsons as an influence.

Parsons had a strong connection to the Mohave Desert and often visited there with friends. He and his road manager, Phil Kaufman, often spent weekends there and in Joshua Tree National Monument. The two of them made a pact that whoever survived the other would bury his friend in Joshua Tree. Kaufman made good on his pledge, stealing Parson’s body from an airline, putting him and his casket in the back of an old hearse, and driving it to Joshua Tree. In the middle of the night, Kaufman doused the coffin with gasoline and made a makeshift funeral pyre for Parsons.