The ’60s and ’70s produced a ton of bright stars, but it was also a decade we notoriously lost a few of them too. For the folk-rock scene, one of their biggest wins ended up being one of their biggest losses with Jim Croce. The Americana singer-songwriter penned some of the most beloved songs in just eight years before his untimely death in 1973.
Most know him for his emotional hits like “Time in a Bottle,” “I’ll Have to Say I Love You In a Song” and “Operator,” but Croce was a true storyteller. He was capable of breaking your heart and making you smile — and his song “Roller Derby Queen” is a perfect example of the latter.
Recently, a clip of the prolific songwriter surfaced and he gave a short, endearing backstory to it that has folks wishing we got just a few more years of his genius.
He apparently noticed a plus-size woman in the crowd one night at a bar. In a separate video, he stated he noticed when she clapped, her arm-fat jiggled back and forth which he called a beautiful sight. “I knew that I had to write a tune about her.”
“I start talking to her and it turns out she’s from Texas and she was in the roller derby. And I said, ‘oh wow to myself,’ because I was really into talking to her. And then her husband came in — the off-duty sheriff,” he quipped, the crowd laughing along. “He had that flat-brim hat on that I remember seeing down at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina when I was in basic training. And the guy took the hat off and he had that same haircut — used to call it felt tip pen — right down the middle, you know. And I’m looking at him and the sheriff’s looking at me. And I don’t want to get in any trouble, ‘cause I can just see him filling out the report, you know.”
The story filled everyone in the comments section with nostalgia as they wished he was still around to tell it.
“Still listen to him, he was/is the music of my youth, now pushing 70, lot of his songs bring a deeper meaning now,” confessed one fan.
“He tells stories that he lived in his songs, wish we still had this man,” added another.
Croce was sadly killed in a plane crash in September 1973. By November his single from his third and final album “Time in a Bottle” hit No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Just a few months before “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” also took the peak No. 1 position. He also went on to win the American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist posthumously according to American Songwriter. Stars like Eric Church, Dolly Parton and Frank Sinatra have all covered his work.
This story was originally reported by Parade on Nov 5, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
