64 years ago today, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, two rock pioneers, died in a plane crash.

[raccoon]

The Day The Music Died’: Inside The Tragic Story Of Buddy Holly’s Death
By Marco Margaritoff | Edited By Austin Harvey
Published October 4, 2021

On February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly boarded a plane with Ritchie Valens and J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson near Clear Lake, Iowa. Just minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed.

Buddy Holly was 22 years old when he died.

When it comes to impact on the nascent genre of rock and roll, Buddy Holly’s influence is nearly insurmountable. He only had had one number one hit with “That’ll Be the Day,” but he inspired nearly every next-generation legend from Bob Dylan to The Beatles to follow in his footsteps. Then, at 22 years old, Buddy Holly died.

In January 1959, with his new chart-topping hit dominating American airwaves, the young Texan embarked on a Midwestern string of ballroom and auditorium shows called The Winter Dance Party. The tour began on January 23 in Milwaukee during one of the coldest winters on record. The musicians traveled in an unheated bus that frequently broke down.

So one night, Holly chartered a plane to get to the next gig. Instead, he and his tour partners Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson were torn from the skies by wintry conditions six mere miles from the Clear Lake, Iowa, airstrip that pilot Roger Peterson had departed from.

All four died upon impact at 12:55 a.m. on Feb. 3, 1959. Holly’s bassist, Waylon Jennings, would be haunted by that night for decades, as he had casually given up his seat for a flu-ridden Richardson moments earlier. Known since as “the day the music died,” Buddy Holly’s plane crash remains one of the most tragic moments in rock and roll history.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/buddy-holly-death

[Meadowoak]

1. 65 years ago, today.

[liberal N proud]

2. I know the year.

I was born 3 weeks later about 50 miles from the site.

[raccoon]

3. You're right. Older I get, the more arithmetic isn't my strong suit.