The Big Bopper's son had no recollection of his father, and didn't find out that he'd been a nationally known showbiz figure until later in his life, because his mother never mentioned it. When the crash happened, in most of the country, the death of The Big Bopper (who was surely a nice person, but in showbiz, he was a one hit wonder, at best) was the headline. A few years back (more than a few probably) there was some kind of stink about how there had been a struggle for control of the plane (some tabloid-level nonsense) and the son had his father's body exhumed for an autopsy. As 99% of the world expected, the autopsy showed that pretty much every bone in his body had been broken, and he'd died instantly. And that's where the story gets a little too creepy to post. :^(
Buddy Holly had a gun in his luggage. It was reported that the fist person on the scene found it immediately and fired several shots to try and summon help. Those were the only shots fired. That’s where the controversy came from.
“..Big Bopper (who was surely a nice person, but in showbiz, he was a one hit wonder, at best)...”
He did write another big hit (for Johnny Preston) - “Running Bear”.
I remember reading that story, yeah, too creepy to post.