The Day The Music Died

On February 2nd, 1959, the Winter Dance Party Tour, featuring Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, Ritchie Valens, and Dion and the Belmonts pulled into Clear Lake, Iowa for a show at the Surf Ballroom. The gig was a late addition to the tour schedule, filling in what would have otherwise been a night off. By the time they arrived, their bus had had a number of problems including a broken heating system that caused Holly's drummer, Carl Bunch, to develop frostbite in his feet. Holly, also in need of extra time to do some laundry, decided to charter a small plane to the…entire summary

On February 2nd, 1959, the Winter Dance Party Tour, featuring Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, Ritchie Valens, and Dion and the Belmonts pulled into Clear Lake, Iowa for a show at the Surf Ballroom. The gig was a late addition to the tour schedule, filling in what would have otherwise been a night off. By the time they arrived, their bus had had a number of problems including a broken heating system that caused Holly's drummer, Carl Bunch, to develop frostbite in his feet. Holly, also in need of extra time to do some laundry, decided to charter a small plane to their next stop in Minnesota.

The plane, piloted by Roger Peterson, sat 3 people. Dion DiMucci was offered a seat, but he refused to pay the outrageous sum of $36. Waylon Jennings, Holly's bassist at the time, gave his seat to Richardson, who was suffering from the flu. Valens won the last remaining seat through a coin toss from Holly's guitarist, Tommy Allsup.

At 1 am on February 3rd, the plane took off. It was found the following morning about 5 miles away from the airport. Holly was 22, Richardson was 28, and Valens was 17. The tragedy has since become ingrained in the national consciousness, helped, in part, by Don McLean's "American Pie." In this playlist, created on the 50th anniversary of the crash, we offer a tribute to the musicians through their music and their story.

The playlist begins with 11 songs either written or made famous by Holly (1-6), Valens (7-9), and Richardson (10-11). Dion (track 12) and Waylon Jennings (track 13) went on to have long, successful careers. Marshall Crenshaw (track 14), who plays Buddy Holly in the Valens biopic "La Bamba," and Don McLean (track 15) have helped immortalize the story.

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