The Day the Music Died

The wreckage of the plane crash

On February 3, 1959, American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson.

The event later became known as "The Day the Music Died", after singer-songwriter Don McLean coined the phrase in his 1971 song "American Pie".

Crash

On the night before their deaths, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and Jiles Perry "J.P" Richardson jr. a.k.a The Big Bopper had played one of their gigs for the 24 city Winter Dance Party Tour. They were aboard a tour bus when the heating system broke down, so all the musicians had to board a Beechcraft Bonanza 35 plane to get to the next gig in Moorhead, Minnesota. Pilot Roger Peterson lost control of the plane around 1:00 am. The plane crashed into a cornfield, ejecting Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and the pilot, who all died upon impact.

The Day The Music Died Media

• 

  -->Winter Dance Party Tour schedule, 1959

• 

  A V-tailed Bonanza similar to N3794N, the accident aircraft

• 

  Mason City and Clear Lake, Iowa

• 

  Monument in front of the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa

• 

  Signpost east of the crash site replicating Holly's signature glasses. The crash site is located 1850 feet down the path along the fence line.

• 

  Memorial at crash site, 2003

Other websites

• February 3, 1959 front page of the Mason City Globe-Gazette, via Newspapers.com
• fiftiesweb.com The Day the Music Died
• Bakotopia Magazine's 50th Anniversary memorial article
• 1959: Buddy Holly killed in air crash
• Voices of Oklahoma interview with Tommy Allsup. Archived 2013-02-21 at the Wayback Machine First person interview conducted with Tommy Allsup on September 8, 2011. Original audio and transcript archived with Voices of Oklahoma oral history project. Archived 2010-07-29 at the Wayback Machine