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On February 3, 1959, the music world was shocked when American rock and roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and JP 'The Big Bopper' Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, along with pilot Roger Peterson. The event eventually became known as 'The Day the Music Died', after Don McLean's classic 1971 song 'American Pie'. Today (February 3) marks 61 years since the disaster. Here, we look back at who the tragic stars were and the legacy they left behind:

Day 321 Of The Dictatorship Of COVID-19, Day 321 Of America And The World Held Hostage Back in 1979 Americans taken hostage in Iran and ABC News coining the phrase "America Held Hostage" as illustrated in this first of many late night special reports... And here we are in 2021 the Dictatorship of COVID-19 and Americans held hostage like Gayle Meyer... Don McLean's "American Pie" was all over the radio back in 1972 and many phrases in that song including "The Day The Music Died". It will be 62 years ago this Wednesday "The Day The Music Died" February 3,...

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...

SOUTHEAST TEXAS - A pop ballad and rock singer from Port Arthur who became known for performing the song "Running Bear" has died. Johnny Preston Courville, 71, died at Baptist Beaumont Hospital Friday afternoon, according to his son, Scott Preston.

It's been 50 winters since the death of Lubbock native and rock-n-roll superstar Buddy Holly. "Fifty Winters Later" is the name of a memorial event in Clear Lake, Iowa where Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash February 3, 1959. Just 11 months prior, Holly and the Crickets made an international impact.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world. A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in...