Many people may remember Matt and Gunner Nelson for their long blonde locks and army of screaming fans.
But the brothers are more than a memorable haircut. Before they were MTV stars with platinum records, they were the sons of one of the 1950s biggest stars: Singer Ricky Nelson.
"We had nothing to do with it; we were just the fastest swimmers," joked Matthew Nelson. "He sold half a billion records. I mean, it was amazing, the phenomenon that was Ricky Nelson in the late '50s and right up until the Beatles happened. It was him and Elvis. They were the two biggest in the world."
Their father died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve, 1985. He was just 45 years old.
"I found out my dad was dead on my car radio, and I passed out, quite literally," admitted Matthew. "Thank God I was parked in my car. I pulled over. He was my best friend, and I miss him every day."
He recalled how they had originally planned to travel with their father on his tragic last journey, but plans were changed at the last minute.
"We were 18 and about to go on a tour with him on his plane when he called us and said, 'Boys, I'm going to do this one alone, and I'll meet you back home. I don't want you to fly with me on this one'. And it was very odd. It didn't happen. And the plane never came back."
The twins suddenly found themselves without their father and facing an uncertain future.
"When our father passed away, the first thing that we had to do was figure out how we were going to eat because nothing was handled or taken care of," Matthew recalled. "Contrary to what people might think from the outside, over decades and bad divorces and bad decisions and bad management, our father was terribly in debt by the time he died. He was such a nice person...he was kind of a soft target for people that weren't very nice. We learned about life at a very young age, and it was not sheltered, and it wasn't hampered. Nobody was going to save us, and we'd better get our shit together."
They did. They got their guitars, some hair conditioner, and a sense of determination that their story wasn’t going to be that of the tragic nepo-babies.
"Fortunately, we had been playing music since we were seven, and we've been playing in clubs since we were 12. So it wasn't a matter of, 'Oh, I'll just do something else.' It was, 'We've got to make this music thing work.'"
In 1990, as a duo, Nelson exploded onto MTV and radio. Almost overnight, the brothers became stars.
"We thought that it was going to take a long time and multiple albums — and we were prepared for it — but nobody can be prepared for our very first record signing," he said.
"We went up in the elevator, and the elevator doors opened to the back of the record store. And it sounded like a jet engine, just the screaming girl thing...and all three layers of the mall were filled with teenage girls. The police had to come and shut it down. So we weren't prepared for that!"
Decades later, their hair may not be as long as it once was, or the fans as vocal, but Nelson’s love for music is very much alive.
"This is an insane business," said Matthew. "I think our greatest accomplishment isn't number one records or tours or massive advances and things that people only dream about when they get started in this. You know, actually having massive success when MTV was a thing and kind of owning that whole space for a while. I think it's that we've maintained, I think, an ability to be really good people in the world's worst business."
He keeps some advice from his famous father close to his heart.
"He just said casually one day, 'Matt, you know, life and the career is nothing but a series of comebacks. And you've got to think about that.' It's really kind of true. You know, you just string them all along."
Matt and his brother, Gunner Nelson, perform at the Canyon in Agoura Hills on Friday, June 26.
