Today in 1959 Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and “The Big Bopper” J. P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. It was later identified as “The Day the Music Died”, after singer-songwriter Don McLean referenced it in his 1971 song “American Pie.”
Musicians credit these three with so much that came to inspire generations as Rock ‘n Roll. What follows are links and sample recordings of all three so that Tulsa Today readers may research and hear for themselves why so many remember this day.
J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson