February 3, 1959: Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens are killed in plane crash - BT
 
February 3, 1959: Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens are killed in plane crash
Three of rock 'n' roll's earliest stars died on this day in 1959 when a plane they had chartered crashed in poor weather in Iowa.
 
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Fans of rock 'n’ roll music from across the world were plunged into mourning on this day in 1959 when three of the genre’s leading performers were killed in a plane crash.
Buddy Holly, 22, J P ‘The Big Bopper’ Richardson, 28, and Ritchie Valens, 17, were travelling between shows on their 'Winter Dance Party' tour of the US, when the light aircraft Holly had chartered to take them to North Dakota crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa.
Pilot error and poor weather conditions were blamed for bringing down the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza plane. The three performers were thrown from the wreckage and died instantly; Pilot Roger Peterson was also killed.
The tour had been hampered by having to travel long distances between venues in snow and bad weather on a poorly-equipped bus. Flu had broken out among the performers, with Richardson in particular suffering.
He had persuaded Holly’s bass player Waylon Jennings to give up his seat on the plane, so he could arrive earlier at the next tour destination and get more rest. Valens had won a coin toss with guitarist Tommy Allsup for the third and final passenger seat.
Holly had been a star since he and his band The Crickets had reached number 1 on both sides of the Atlantic with the single That’ll Be The Day. Richardson, a DJ turned performer, was most famous for his hit Chantilly Lace, while Valens enjoyed chart success with songs Donna and La Bamba.
The death of the three stars was commemorated by Don McLean in his 1972 hit song American Pie, which has subsequently led February 3 1959 to become known as “The Day the Music Died”.
Do you remember “The Day the Music Died”? Which are your favourite tracks by Holly, Valens and Richardson?  Let us know in the comments section below.
The Day The Music Died - Did you know?
Holly’s real name was Charles Hardin Holley. He changed the spelling of his surname after it had been misspelled on a recording contract.
Holly had huge success with The Crickets for two years, but he was determined to live and record in New York, while his bandmates wanted to stay in their hometown of Lubbock, Texas; as a consequence, they had parted company in late 1958.
Richardson had created the persona of The Big Bopper while working as a DJ in Texas. He broke the world record for continuous live broadcasting in 1957, DJ’ing for five days, two hours and eight minutes, and playing 1,821 records.
Valens – real name Richard Steven Valenzuela – had only been recording since July 1958, having been spotted while still a schoolboy by record label owner Bob Keane. He finally left high school to concentrate on music in the autumn of that year.
The first bus used to transport the Winter Dance Party tour performers was abandoned when its heaters broke down. It was replaced by a school bus.
The weather was so bad during the tour that drummer Carl Bunch had to be hospitalised for frostbitten feet.
Before the final passengers were decided upon, another tour star, Dion DiMucci of Dion and the Belmonts, was asked if he would like a seat on the fatal flight. He demurred on being told it would cost him $36 (around £193 in today’s money).
The first song to commemorate the crash was Three Stars by Tommy Dee, which was covered by Eddie Cochran. Cochran would himself meet an early death, in a car crash in April 1960, aged just 21.