The day the music died

by Larry Lehmer

The night of February 3, 1959, the headliners of the "Winter Dance Party Tour" - Buddy Holly, the "Big Bopper" (J.P. Richardson), and new Latino star Ritchie Valens - boarded a small chartered aircraft. The tour was going poorly, with subzero weather, heavy snow, a string of dates in small-town dance halls far apart, and travel on a rickety, badly heated bus that carried all the tour's stars and backup players, as well as the equipment. Audience reception was enthusiastic wherever the tour appeared, but the performers were enduring frostbite and exhaustion. That night Buddy Holly hired a plane to try to get a head start on a good night's sleep. Little did anyone know that this flight would become one of the key dates in rock history - the "day the music died," as Don McLean sang in "American Pie.". The deaths of Holly, Richardson, and Valens have spurred controversy among fans and historians alike, with conflicting theories about what happened in the days - and hours - before, during,