Killed in an airplane crash that night were rock and roll icons Buddy Holly, 22, of Lubbock, Tex.; Ritchie Valens, 17, of Los Angeles; J.P. (Big Bopper) Richardson, 24, of Beaumont, Tex., also killed was the pilot, Roger Peterson, 21, of Clear Lake, Iowa. Three of Rock and Roll’s most famous and promising performers were gone. The three were together on a concert tour.

“The Winter Dance Party Tour” was planned to cover 24 cities in a short 3-week time frame (January 23rd – February 15th). They were traveling by bus. But, the tour bus developed heating problems. It was so cold on board that one of the drummers reportedly developed frostbite riding in it. When they arrived at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, they were sick and tired of the cold bus. So Buddy Holly Holly asked the tour manager Carroll Anderson about renting a chartered plane to fly him to the tour’s next destination in Moorhead, Minnesota. That turned out to be a tragic mistake.

[As I’m sure everyone knows by now, Don McLean’s classic “American Pie” was his poetic lament about the aftermath of this tragedy. McLean refused to discuss the symbolism of his lyrics until last year, when he explained them in a documentary that I keep meaning to watch. — Ed]