“The Day the Music Died”

At about 1 a.m. on the morning of February 3rd, 1959, the airplane carrying Ritchie Valens, J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, Buddy Holly and pilot Roger Peterson crashed into a field north of Clear Lake, Iowa. All three were traveling to Fargo, North Dakota, for the next show on their Winter Dance Party Tour which Holly had planned to make money after the break-up of his band, The Crickets, in the previous year.

The wreckage of the plane at the crash site.

Charles Hardin Holley, known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American musician and singer-songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll.

During his short career, Holly wrote and recorded many songs. He is often regarded as the artist who defined the traditional rock-and-roll lineup of two guitars, bass, and drums. He was a major influence on later popular music artists, including Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, The Hollies (who named themselves in his honor), Elvis Costello and Elton John. He was among the first artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1986. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 13 in its list of “100 Greatest Artists”.

Richard Steven Valenzuela, known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

Valens became the first Mexican-American rock and roll star.

Valens was discovered by producer Bob Keane while performing at a local movie theatre. Keane soon signed Valenzuela to Del-Fi Records but not before changing his name to Valens – to mask his identity as a Chicano -someone who is native of, or descends from, Mexico and who lives in the United States.

For Mexican Americans, Valens’ death was a lost opportunity on the road to recognition of their contribution to American culture. But a handful of Mexican-American bands had national hits in the half-dozen years that followed and, like Valens, they used names that masked their identity.

Jiles Perry “J. P.” Richardson, Jr.,known professionally as The Big Bopper was an American musician, songwriter and disc jockey (DJ), whose big rockabilly look, style, voice, and exuberant personality made him an early rock and roll star.  He is best known for his 1958 recording of “Chantilly Lace”.

In memorial of this day films were produced, concerts were held, various monuments have been erected at the crash site and in Clear Lake and songs were written.

Tommy Dee recorded “Three Stars” (1959) commemorating the musicians.

In 1961, Mike Berry recorded “Tribute to Buddy Holly”, which describes the night of the flight. It reached number 24 on the UK Singles Chart and was notoriously banned by the BBC for being “too morbid”.

The most popular song written about This tragic event is “American Pie” By Don McLean, a fan of Buddy Holly.

Due to this song the day of the plane crash was named “The Day the Music Died”.

The overall theme of the song is the loss of innocence of the early rock and roll generation as symbolised by the plane crash that claimed the lives of three of its heroes and various other events over the course of the 1960s.

I hope you enjoyed my book, and I recommend you to watch the next video for further information about “The Day the Music Died”.