On this day in 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson died in a plane crash outside Clear Lake, Iowa in Rock ‘n Roll’s first tragedy.
Thanks to Don McLean’s 1971 hit song, “American Pie,” the event has come to be known as The Day the Music Died.
Buddy Holly on stage at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa on 2 Feb 1959, along with Waylon Jennings and Tommy Alsup. Believed to be the last photo taken of Buddy Holly.
I try to note the day every year.