Remembering the Day the Muisc Died

I do not personally remember the day that three pioneering rock stars died in a plane crash because mere hours after the plane went down I was born. From the time I was old enough to understand the events that occurred in the early hours of February 3, 1959 I have been infatuated with the date. This year - 2009 - marks the fiftieth anniversary of that fateful day in rock and roll.

Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, Tommy Alsup, and Waylon Jennings were among the musicians who were on the Winter Dance Party Tour - a tour set to last three weeks and hit 24 cities. The gig in Clear Lake, Iowa was a last minute addition to the tour. On February 2, 1959 the group played before a screaming crowd of 1,000 fans at the Surf Ballroom.

The tour bus being used had problems with the heat. At times it was so bad that band members were freezing to the point of one band member having to be hospitalized for frostbite. Tired of a cold bus and in desperate need of clean laundry Buddy Holly contracted the Dwyer Flying Service to fly him and three others to Fargo, North Dakota - the closest airport to the group's next show in Moorhead, Minnesota for $36 each.

A 21 year old pilot by the name of Roger Peterson took the charter. It had been snowing and more snow was on the way making it necessary for the pilot to fly using only the instruments. Peterson was not qualified to fly on instruments, only visual flight rules that were impossible under the current weather conditions. Peterson took flying duties along with no co-pilot. When checking the weather conditions for the flight path Peterson did not request all the pertinent information required to make a safe flight. Holley and his colleagues were not aware of the situation, only that they wished to get to the next concert site.

The plane was a Beachcraft Bonanza with room for four passengers; Buddy Holly, Tommy Alsup, and Waylon Jennings were originally scheduled to go on the trip. J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson was suffering from the flu and asked Waylon Jennings for a seat on the plane; which Jennings did. A 17 year old Ritchie Valens had never been on a plane so Alsup flipped a coin to see who would get the seat, Valens won. And Charles Hudson "Buddy" Holley took a seat on the plane.

Only a few miles after taking off Dwyer Flying Service owner Dwyer watched as the tail lights for the plane began to dip an disappear. Peterson had planned to file a flight plan once the plane was en-route and attempts to contact the plane went unanswered. It was not until daylight that a search could be made for the plane. Searchers found the crashed plane in a field only about five miles from the Mason City Airport. The passengers were thrown clear of the plane; Holly and Valens were found near the plane, but Richardson was found further away. The pilot Peterson was still in the plane. All four died upon impact from massive trauma.

In 1971 musician and songwriter Don McLean wrote a song about the incident titled "American Pie". In that song McLean calls the accident the "Day the Music Died". Holly was one of the early pioneers of rock and roll and we know it today. He was one of the first rockers to actually write his own music. In the early days of rock and roll and even up into the seventies record companies hired songwriters to create music for the rockers (that is how Elton John began his career, as a record company hired writer). In less than two years Holly had rung up a string of hits. Former DJ The Big Bopper and teen Ritchie Valens had just begun hitting the charts. It is uncertain just how successful Holly might have been when he died at the age of 22. As it is Holley became the influence for a number of rockers including the Rolling stones, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, the Ramones, Weezer, Marshall Crenshaw, and the Smithereens.

Charles Hardin Holley was born in Lubbock, Texas the youngest of four children. Besides the guitar Holley played the banjo and mandolin. He married Maria Elena Santiago in 1958. Maria Elena was pregnant at the time of Holly's death; but when she heard about his death she lost the baby. In 1986 Holly was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and as a charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Big Bopper was born Jiles Perry Richardson in Sabine Pass, Texas. The former DJ had a big hit with the song "Chantilly Lace". At the time of his death he left a wife Adrianne and two children.

Ritchie Valens was born Richard Steven Valenzuela in Los Angeles. He is best known for the song "La Bamba" but spoke no Spanish. Valens was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

Many rock fans were reminded of the crash that killed Holly, Richardson, and Valens last year when another small plane ran off the runway in South Carolina.

While there have been other rock stars who died as a result of a plane crash the incident that killed Holly is the most well known because of the Don McLean song "American Pie". Other musicians who have died in incidents involving airplanes are big band leader Glen Miller who's plane was shot down over the English Channel, John Denver crashed his experimental aircraft, Jim Croce, Ronnie Van Zant, Aaliyah, Ricky Nelson, Otis Redding, Stevie Ray Vaughn, country star Patsy Cline, and Jim Reeves.

Buddy Holly was a pioneer who gave the world of rock and roll more than his short career demonstrated - a world he not only helped to create but influenced many of those who followed in his footsteps including sixties teen idol Bobby Vee.