The story about Waylon Jennings and the “Cocaine Bear” is a primary instance of how misinformation can unfold like wildfire. This story, which has been broadly reported, claims that Waylon as soon as owned a black bear that died in 1985 after consuming a considerable amount of cocaine dumped from a aircraft by a drug smuggler. The rumor maintained that the bear was stuffed and displayed in Waylon’s home in Las Vegas earlier than it was acquired by the house owners of Kentucky for Kentucky Enjoyable Mall, the place it is at present on show.
Nonetheless, in line with Shooter Jennings, Waylon’s son, this story is totally fabricated. Shooter has repeatedly said that his father by no means owned a home in Vegas, not to mention the bear. He recollects the story inflicting an enormous stir, particularly with the discharge of the 2023 movie “Cocaine Bear,” which additional fueled public curiosity within the story. Regardless of Shooter’s makes an attempt to set the document straight, many individuals continued to consider the false story, with some even arguing together with his son about it.
As Shooter defined in a current podcast look on The Drifting Cowboy, “No, no. That was by no means true. These folks made that up, or somebody made that up and advised these people who. There was a complete story about how he had this cocaine bear on this home that he had in Vegas. And I am going, we didn’t have a home in Vegas… what are you speaking about? Like, what’s anybody speaking about?” He additionally talked about that the Kentucky for Kentucky museum doubtless created the story for publicity, which in the end labored of their favor.
It is comprehensible that Shooter needs to guard his father’s legacy and make sure the reality is advised. He is been doing an incredible job of holding Waylon’s reminiscence alive by way of varied initiatives, together with a current discovery of unreleased music. Shooter introduced that he is engaged on releasing three separate albums of his father’s unreleased songs, with the primary one, “Songbird,” set to return out on October third. The album options songs Waylon recorded a long time in the past however by no means launched, which Shooter has polished up with background vocals and instrumentation.
As Shooter continues to hold on his father’s legacy, it is clear that he is devoted to preserving the reality about Waylon’s life and profession. By sharing tales like this and releasing new music, Shooter helps to maintain his father’s reminiscence alive and introduce his music to a brand new era of followers. It is a commendable effort, and one which’s certain to be appreciated by followers of Waylon Jennings and nation music alike.
