February 3rd: ‘The Day the Music Died’

Yesterday February 3 back in 1959…At about 1:00 a.m. CST, shortly after taking off from the Mason City, Iowa airport, a chartered airplane containing Buddy Holly (Peggy Sue, That'll Be The Day), Ritchie Valens (Donna, La Bamba), and the "Big Bopper" J.P. Richardson (Chantilly Lace), crashed into an Iowa field, instantly killing all three and the pilot Roger Peterson.

Headed for the next "Winter Dance Party" tour stop in Fargo, North Dakota, the plane had been chartered by Holly so that the band members could travel in heated comfort (their tour bus had a broken heater) and arrive early for the next show.

The pilot, not informed of worsening weather conditions, decided to fly "on instruments," meaning without visual confirmation of the horizon, which led to the crash.

Richardson was 28, Holly was 22, and Valens was 17. Don McLean later immortalized the tragedy in his classic song "American Pie," calling this "the day the music died."


For an explanation of the lyrics, Click Here.