On this day in 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were killed when their plane crashed minutes after takeoff. Investigators blamed the crash on bad weather and pilot error.
Holly was enjoying success with such hits as "That'll Be the Day."
Richardson, who had the flu, convinced Holly's band member Waylon Jennings to give up his seat, and Ritchie Valens won a coin toss for another seat on the plane.
"The Big Bopper" Richardson's most famous hit was "Chantilly Lace".
Ritchie Valens, who was the subject of the 1987 movie La Bamba, was only 17 when the plane went down but he already had hits with "Come On, Let's Go," "Donna" and "La Bamba".
Singer Don McLean memorialized Holly, Valens and Richardson in the 1972 No. 1 hit "American Pie," which refers to February 3, 1959 as "the day the music died."
That song should be on everyone's download list.
1 comment:
Hi...I remember the day I heard of the plane crash. I was in grade 8 at Bedford Park in Toronto. Buddy Holly's music was in a class of its own. By the way, I'm so glad you liked A Trial of One. We are both Torontonians, I see. You should try the first two books in the Osgoode Trilogy, Conduct in Question and Final Paradox.
Mary E. Martin
www.theosgoodetrilogy.com
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