The Day The Music Died, 51 Years Ago Today

Their music was before my time, but it was part of my early childhood’s soundtrack as Mom and Dad shuttled me from little league games to soccer matches with 101.1 CBS FM blaring from our Pontiac’s radio speakers. 

That fateful plane crash was 51 years ago today. 

From the Long Island Press 

Today, 51 years ago, was “The Day the Music Died,” the phrase immortalized in American folk singer/songwriter Don McLean’s 1972 hit “American Pie.” Buddy Holly, who died in a plane crash 51 years ago today, on Feb. 3, 1959, with his pilot and fellow rock and rollers Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson. The tragedy is immortalized in singer/songwriter Don McLean’s 1972 hit “American Pie.” 

The tune has been called a metaphor for the loss of innocence in America, inspired by, and about, the untimely deaths of rock and rollers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, Jr. They were killed in a plane crash Feb. 3, 1959 along with the plane’s pilot, Roger Paterson, in a snowy field in the middle of Iowa just a short while after 1 a.m. 

Here’s Buddy Holly…

Source:

The Day The Music Died, Remembered (LongIslandPress.com)