Author’s Note: Research is credited to National Day Calendar and Britannica.
On Feb. 3, 1959, American musicians Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and J.P. Richardson (known as the Big Bopper) boarded a plane in Mason City, Iowa.
The three musicians were in the middle of a tour titled the Winter Dance Party, starring alongside several other famous musicians of the time. Their goal was twenty-four concerts in twenty-four days at venues across the Midwest.
Starting in Milwaukee, WI on Jan. 23, the group was set to travel from venue to venue via a converted school bus.
Unfortunately, the bus lacked heating and had multiple mechanical difficulties. Driving in winter conditions on two-lane highways, with trips lasting up to twelve hours, took a toll on all the artists. Musician Carl Bunch even developed a severe case of frostbite after their bus stalled for an extended period of time.
On Feb. 2, the group played in Clear Lake, IA. It was decided that for the next leg of their journey, a handful of them would travel by plane while the rest followed by bus.
They chartered a four-seat plane, with the pilot, Roger Peterson, occupying one of the seats.
Buddy Holly, who had originally booked their flight, earned the second seat. Waylon Jennings gave up his seat to Richardson, who wasn’t feeling well at the time. Tommy Allsup and Ritchie Valens flipped a coin for the last spot, and Valens won.
On Feb. 3 at 12:55 a.m., the plane took off from Mason City Municipal Airport in Iowa. There was a light snow, but no warning was given about worsening conditions.
Their destination was Hector International Airport in Fargo, ND.
The group was booked to play in Moorhead, MN the night of Feb. 3, and the plan was for the three touring artists on the flight to arrive early enough to rest before their performance.
Shortly after taking off, the plane was caught in a high wind and dove into a tailspin. Air traffic control was unable to reach the pilot and the aircraft ultimately disappeared.
They never reached their destination.
The following morning, about six miles north of the airport in Clear Lake, IA, the wreckage was found in a cornfield.
All four passengers died in the crash. An investigation ruled poor weather conditions and pilot error as the cause.
The other members of the tour were informed in their hotel lobby the same morning. Richardson was twenty-eight years old, Holly was twenty-two, and Valens was just seventeen. Their pilot was only twenty-one.
Feb. 3 became known as The Day the Music Died, and is honored each year with its own national holiday. The crash affected the entire nation, as well as the music industry. The three musicians were some of the biggest stars of the era, despite their young ages.
The crash symbolically ended the mainstream era of rock ‘n roll music, turning the country over to more somber and serious chart-toppers. The country was starting to change in many ways, growing more serious about issues such as civil rights and the Vietnam crisis.
The legacy of the day lives on. Even now, over sixty-five years later, people still visit Clear Lake, IA in the memory of the four who died in the crash.
In 1971, Don McClean released the hit song “American Pie,” where he references his own thoughts and emotions regarding “The Day the Music Died,” the line that comes from his song.
There have even been several movies made in honor of the plane’s passengers, as well as other songs that were inspired by the crash, but Don McClean’s has become the most notable.
Fargo itself is a piece of the history of National Day the Music Died, even if it is a small role. The tour went on, playing the same night they were scheduled with local musicians filling in. Later, more famous celebrities, including Frankie Avalon, took over the rest of the tour to finish what they had started.
While this event is often overlooked and sometimes forgotten today, it held significant value at its time and helped push American culture through the future changes of the 1960s to what we know today.