On a February 3, 1959 tour of the Midwest, rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and “The Big Bopper” J. P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson.
In 1971 “The Day the Music Died” by Don McLean referred to the tragic day..
Source: Wikipedia
One of mt favorite singers, Waylon Jennings, was a touring member of Buddy Holly’s band on Feb. 3, 1959, when he gave up his seat in a small plane to the Big Bopper.
Jennings says he gave his seat to Richardson because “he had a bad cold, and he was a big guy.”
“We’d been driving around in this dinky school bus, and the seats were real uncomfortable for him; he just couldn’t get any rest at all. I can sleep anywhere, so I let him take the plane on ahead,” he said.