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Rock 'n’ roll was still in its infancy when it suffered its first tragedy. On Feb. 3, 1959, three of its biggest stars — Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson, known as the Big Bopper — were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. The three acts, along with Dion and the Belmonts, were on a package tour called the Winter Dance Party, which was to play 24 Midwestern cities in as many days. But the bus’ heating system was ill-equipped and broke down a few days later, which caused some musicians to catch the flu and...

Buddy Holly, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson and Richie Valens plummeted to their deaths as their plane crashed in the fields of Clear Lake, Iowa. Eleven years later, a singer-songwriter in Cold Springs, New York, poignantly wrote about the tragedy in the intro to his magnum opus “American Pie,” dubbing it “The Day the Music Died.” A 13-year-old paperboy at the time of the plane crash (“But February made me shiver/With every paper I’d deliver”), Don McLean was devastated over Holly’s death; he later said that the fallout from the event “created a sense of grief that lived inside of...

... be hailed a hero for trying to avert disaster' An investigation into the 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly and three others could now be reopened after a respected pilot brought forward new factors as to how the aircraft may have gone down. At the time of the crash, the Civil Aeronautics Board ruled the probable cause of the crash was error by the pilot, Roger Peterson, who took off from Mason City to Moorhead, Minnesota, in inclement weather, even though he was qualified. The chartered plane crashed in Iowa not long after takeoff, killing Holly, Peterson, and...

In February 1959, a paperboy delivered newspapers with a story about a plane crash in Iowa.About a decade later, the paperboy, Don McLean, described the day in his song, “American Pie.”He began by remembering the papers he delivered: A long long time ago, I can still remember how, That music used to make me smile.And I knew if I had my chance That I could make those people dance, And maybe they’d be happy for a while.But February made me shiver, With every paper I’d deliver. Bad news on the doorstep; I couldn’t take one more step.I can’t remember if...

Flight steward Sanjid Singh Sandu, 41, was not supposed to be on Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. According to his father Jijar Singh, 71, Sanjid had switched his shift with a colleague. Sanjid Singh Sandu His 73-year-old mother had planned to cook his favourite dishes for Sanjid upon his arrival in Penang. "He last came home last month. "My son spoke to me over the phone just before his flight yesterday (Wednesday). "I didn't know that would be my last conversation with him. "What has happened has happened," said Jijar in between tears as he spoke to reporters...

Some accidents are burned into memory even decades after they happened. The sinking of the Titanic, the explosion of the Hindenburg, the accident at Tenerife, and the Challenger crash all bring back remembrances of unforgettable tragedies. “The day the music died,” wrote singer/songwriter Don McLean for his hit song, American Pie, in 1971 commemorated the loss of singer Buddy Holly in an aircraft accident. Charles Hardin Holley, better known as Buddy Holly, was and remains one of the giants in the music business. His may be the most-discussed pop music star aircraft accident in history. The impact on the music...

In one of music's most tragic accidents, a light plane carrying three people who changed the face of Rock forever crashed in an Iowa field shortly after leaving a concert on Feb. 3, 1959. Buddy Holly had chartered the plane to take his band to their next gig in North Dakota while other artists and staff took the usual means of tour bus....

Big Bopper's casket a macabre marketable on e-bay By RON FRANSCELL December, 27, 2008 Rock 'n' roll's most macabre historical artifact will go on the block when the family of the late 1950s pop star J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson auctions his casket on eBay sometime in the next few weeks - almost 50 years after "the day the music died." The Big Bopper's 16-gauge steel casket was exhumed last year from his original grave at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Beaumont so it could be moved to a more visible location with a life-sized statue and historic marker. The disinterment...

A study of small galaxies circling around the Milky Way found that while they range dramatically in brightness, they all surprisingly pack about the same mass. The work suggests there is a minimum size for galaxies, and it could shed light on mysterious dark matter. Spinning around the Milky Way are at least 23 pint-sized galaxies, each shining with the light of anywhere from a thousand to a billion suns. Though each of these galaxies is very dim compared to large galaxies like our own, they span a large range in brightness. Astronomers led by Louis Strigari of the University...

...It was about 1 a.m., Feb. 3, 1959, when a light plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. (The Big Bopper) Richardson crashed near Mason City, Iowa. The trio had just finished a concert in Clear Lake and was headed to Fargo, N.D., the next stop on their tour, when the plane went down in bad weather. All three were hitmakers on the music scene at the time, Valens with the song “La Bamba” and Richardson with “Chantilly Lace.” But the real star of the group was Holly. He was the creator of songs which are now considered to...