The Tragic Explanation Of The Day The Music Died

Known as "The Day the Music Died," Feb. 3, 1959 is a date that has gone down in history for the moment three budding musicians had their lives cut tragically short. Buddy Holly (22), Ritchie Valens (17), and J.P. Richardson — aka The Big Bopper (28) — all met with an utterly tragic fate when the small plane that they were traveling in crashed in Iowa, killing them all along with their pilot, Roger Peterson. Despite their short lives, these musicians left a lasting impact on pop culture that is still felt today. And, although their last, ill-fated moments are still talked about today, there's still a lot that fans might not know about the events surrounding the end of these icons' lives. This is the tragic explanation of The Day the Music Died.

#BuddyHolly #Music #Musician

The lives lost | 0:00
The Tour from Hell | 1:35
An ill-fated decision | 2:36
A fateful joke | 3:41
The coin flip | 4:55
The show must go on | 6:05
Buddy Holly's lasting influence | 7:18
Calls to reopen the case | 8:17
An exhumation and auction | 9:21
Don McLean's 'American Pie' | 10:22

[righteousredneck]

Bopper is buried in my hometown. I have visited him many times. Left guitar picks on his grave and definitely paid my respect to his contribution to the world of music.

[victorancelmo]

Even though Im a latino teen and Ritchie Valens lived in the 50s, I still wonder if other latinos would have followed his footsteps into rock music. I love rock and metal, including his music, yet everyone sees me as a latino kid who likes white music. It wouldve been cool to see Ritchie become a bigger star and really influence music more. I hope they all rip. 😔

[roxannemoser]

My Dad played Buddy Holly quite a bit. I was 7 years old when he taught me about his music. My father was a man of few words and didn't go out much. When the Buddy Holly Story came out, he took me to see it. I was always able to talk to Dad about music and baseball.

[sharonarogers]

My late widower friend lived on his street growing up and they played together. My widower friend was an outstanding souls, they had that besides music in common. RIP Buddy and Joel❤️

[shaunstrasser]

My dad was born and raised in El Paso and heard Buddy on the local stations and was able to get records then. When he moved to Nyssa Oregon in 1956 and played Buddy's records his new friends said who is this a year before Buddy made it big nationally and internationally

[flightofthebumblebee]

All 3 of them were amazing. Richie was only 17! He has at least 4 amazing songs that most people recognized. Talent back then actually suffered a lot on tour and still gave amazing performances. RIP Buddy, Bopper, and Richie.

[nwnd]

So many “tragic accidents” have stolen beloved artists from us all.

[Christian_Girl]

This is so devastating. May they all rest in peace.

[doristessier]

Miss you Richie. My friends & I cried & you are still remembered & loved after 64yrs. See you in heaven💝

[jillb]

I grew up with the three B’s Buddy Holly, Beatles and Beach Boys! It started in my infancy and they are all on my playlists more than 30 years later.

[thatmeanmexican]

I started listening to these three due to a video game. The game is mafia 2 and when I first heard Donna I loved it. Started to listen to more songs from the game then started to listen to a lot of buddy Holley as well. I thank the game and these 3 because it opened me to so much more music. I used to listen to modern day music but since I listened to Donna I never turned back to modern day . Discovered all the greats songs from the 50’s through 80’s. I thank these three a lot.

Forgot to mention that Donna from the song actually lives in my city here in Sacramento!

[trishnelson]

My Dad and I bonded over music. He'd play all kinds of music so I've been a lover of all music from the 40s to current music. I'm so thankful he exposed me to do much diversity in music.

[MsMC-vrjd]

So many stars have literally fallen from the sky in tragic plane crashes. Sad. 😥

[empath]

They will FOREVER be remembered in the beautiful music they both wrote and sang on stage! I'm 35 and I've always loved classic rock, and old black and white movies 🎬 actors, actress & singers because although times were different in America 🇺🇸 and also difficult as well back then America 🇺🇸 was AMERICA 🇺🇸 it's February 2022 and I remember when I first heard thier beautiful voices at the age of 5 years old seeing how incredibly talented they all were, and naturally were genuine and all around good hearted music artists! Their music 🎶 will go on and on. Times change but music 🎶 like thiers & the voices they were gifted with will never fade away nor ever be forgotten!

[plymouthduster]

RIP to Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper and Roger Peterson. I always wondered why since they made the Buddy Holly Story and LA Bamba why they haven't made a movie about The Big Bopper's life?

[yvonnewitherspoon]

WoW this was so interesting ; bringing back a lot of memories of true pioneers 🎵🎶🎵 Thanks for posting

[janeyd]

I am so sorry about this. Utterly tragic.x😪

[garrettchristopher]

I love buddy Holly and he is awesome. But Ritchie Valens was amazing an very talented. He would later inspire the likes of Jimi Hendrix through guitar playing in LA Bamba, he had an incredible song on the charts called 'Donna' . He also had a minor hit called 'come on let's go' . He would've most likely been a force for a very long time if he had lived. Only 17 at the time of his death. Incredible. All of them, I hope they're truly resting in peace....

[thomasbittner]

It really was the day the music BEGAN.His influence in the upcoming 60s was more accepted because of the notoriety of his kind of created the model that boomed in the 60s that led to most rock ....he's hands down the real king of rock.

[googalacticgoo]

Enough of the foul play. That's old news. Case closed. They died on impact. The only foul play was the soul less heartless greedy promoters and Buddy's former manager.