The Day the Music Died - wikipedia The Day the Music Died This article is about the plane crash. For other uses, see The Day the Music Died ( disambiguation ). The Day the Music Died The memorial marking the crash site, 2003 Accident Date February 3, 1959 ( 1959 - 02 - 03 ) Summary Spatial disorientation, loss of control in near - IMC conditions Site Near Clear Lake, Iowa, United States 43 ° 13 ′ 13.3 '' N 93 ° 22 ′ 53.1 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 43.220361 ° N 93.381417 ° W ﻿ / 43.220361 ; - 93.381417 Coordinates : 43 ° 13 ′ 13.3 '' N 93 ° 22 ′ 53.1 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 43.220361 ° N 93.381417 ° W ﻿ / 43.220361 ; - 93.381417 Aircraft Aircraft type Beechcraft Bonanza Operator Dwyer Flying Service, Mason City, Iowa Registration N3794N Flight origin Mason City Municipal Airport, Iowa Destination Hector Airport, North Dakota Passengers Crew Fatalities 4 ( all ) Survivors 0 On February 3, 1959, American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. `` The Big Bopper '' Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson. The event later became known as `` The Day the Music Died '', after singer - songwriter Don McLean referred to it as such in his 1971 song `` American Pie ''. At the time, Holly and his band, consisting of Waylon Jennings, Tommy Allsup, and Carl Bunch, were playing on the `` Winter Dance Party '' tour across the Midwest. Rising artists Valens, Richardson and Dion and the Belmonts had joined the tour as well. The long journeys between venues on board the cold, uncomfortable tour buses adversely affected the performers, with cases of flu and even frostbite. After stopping at Clear Lake to perform, and frustrated by such conditions, Holly chose to charter a plane to reach their next venue in Moorhead, Minnesota. Richardson, who had the flu, swapped places with Jennings, taking his seat on the plane, while Allsup lost his seat to Valens on a coin toss. Soon after takeoff, late at night and in poor, wintry weather conditions, the pilot lost control of the light aircraft, a Beechcraft Bonanza, which subsequently crashed into a cornfield. Everyone on board was killed. The event has since been mentioned in various songs and films. A number of monuments have been erected at the crash site and in Clear Lake, where an annual memorial concert is also held at the Surf Ballroom, the venue that hosted the artists ' last performance. Contents 1 Background 2 Flight arrangements 3 Take - off and crash 4 Aftermath 5 Official investigation 6 Subsequent investigations 7 Legacy 7.1 Notification of victims ' families 7.2 Memorials 7.2. 1 Films 7.2. 2 Memorial concerts 7.2. 3 Monuments 7.2. 4 Roads 7.2. 5 Songs 8 See also 9 References 9.1 Books 10 Further reading 11 External links Background Buddy Holly terminated his association with the Crickets in November 1958. For the start of the `` Winter Dance Party '' tour, he assembled a band consisting of Waylon Jennings ( bass ), Tommy Allsup ( guitar ), and Carl Bunch ( drums ), with the opening vocals of Frankie Sardo. The tour was set to cover twenty - four Midwestern cities in as many days. New hit artist Ritchie Valens, J.P. `` The Big Bopper '' Richardson and Dion DiMucci and his band The Belmonts joined the tour to promote their recordings and make an extra profit. Winter Dance Party Tour schedule, 1959 The tour began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on January 23, 1959. The amount of travel soon became a logistical problem. The distances between venues had not been properly considered when the performances were scheduled ; instead of `` circling '' around the Midwest to each town, the tour zig - zagged with distances between cities over 400 miles. General Artists Corporation, the organization that booked the tour, later received considerable criticism for their seemingly total disregard for the conditions they forced the touring musicians to endure : `` They did n't care. It was like they threw darts at a map... The tour from hell -- that 's what they named it -- and it 's not a bad name. '' Buddy Holly historian Bill Griggs '' The entire company of musicians traveled together in one bus, although the buses used for the tour were wholly inadequate, breaking down and being replaced with astounding frequency. Griggs estimates that five separate buses were used in the first eleven days of the tour -- `` reconditioned school buses, not good enough for school kids. '' The artists themselves were responsible for loading and unloading equipment at each stop, as no road crew assisted them. Adding to the disarray, the buses were not equipped for the weather which consisted of waist - deep snow in several areas and varying temperatures from the 20s to as low as − 36 ° F. One bus had a heating system that broke down shortly after the tour began, in Appleton, Wisconsin. Later, Richardson and Valens began experiencing flu - like symptoms and drummer Bunch was hospitalized for severely frostbitten feet, after the tour bus simply broke down in the middle of the highway in subzero temperatures near Ironwood, Michigan. The musicians replaced that bus with another school bus and kept traveling. After Bunch was hospitalized, Carlo Mastrangelo of The Belmonts took over the drumming duties. When Dion and The Belmonts were performing, the drum seat was taken by either Valens or Holly. As Holly 's group had been the backing band for all of the acts, Holly, Valens, and DiMucci took turns playing drums for each other at the performances in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Clear Lake, Iowa. On Monday, February 2, the tour arrived in Clear Lake, having driven 350 miles from the previous day 's concert in Green Bay. The town had not been a scheduled stop, but the tour promoters, hoping to fill an open date, called the manager of the local Surf Ballroom, Carroll Anderson ( 1920 -- 2006 ), and offered him the show. He accepted, and they set the show for that night. By the time Holly arrived at the venue that evening, he was frustrated with the ongoing problems with the bus. The next scheduled destination after Clear Lake was Moorhead, Minnesota, a 365 - mile drive north and northwest ( and, reflecting the poor planning, a journey that would take them directly back through two towns they had already played within the last week. ) No let up after that was in sight, as the following day, they were scheduled to travel back almost directly south to Sioux City, Iowa, a 325 - mile trip. Holly decided to charter a plane to take himself and his band to Fargo, North Dakota, which is adjacent to Moorhead. The rest of the party would have picked him up in Moorhead, saving him the journey in the bus and leaving him time to get some rest. Flight arrangements A V - tailed Bonanza similar to N3794N, the accident aircraft Anderson called Hubert Jerry Dwyer ( 1930 -- 2016 ), owner of the Dwyer Flying Service, a company in Mason City, to charter the plane to fly to Hector Airport in Fargo, the closest one to Moorhead. Flight arrangements were made with Roger Peterson, a 21 - year - old local pilot described as a `` young married man who built his life around flying ''. The flying service charged a fee of $36 per passenger for the flight on the 1947 single - engined, V - tailed Beechcraft 35 Bonanza ( registration N3794N ), which could seat three passengers plus the pilot. A popular misconception, originating from Don McLean 's eponymous song about the crash, was that the plane was called American Pie. In fact, no record exists of any name ever having been given to N3794N. The most widely accepted version of events was that Richardson had contracted flu during the tour and asked Jennings for his seat on the plane. When Holly learned that Jennings was not going to fly, he said in jest : `` Well, I hope your ol ' bus freezes up. '' Jennings responded : `` Well, I hope your ol ' plane crashes '', a humorous but ill - fated response that haunted him for the rest of his life. Valens, who once had a fear of flying, asked Allsup for his seat on the plane. The two agreed to toss a coin to decide. Bob Hale, a disc jockey with Mason City 's KRIB - AM, was working the concert that night and flipped the coin in the ballroom 's side - stage room shortly before the musicians departed for the airport. Valens won the coin toss for the seat on the flight. In contradiction to the testimony of Allsup and Jennings, Dion has since said that Holly approached him along with Valens and Richardson to join the flight, not Holly 's bandmates. In a 2009 interview, Dion claimed that Holly called him, Valens, and Richardson into a vacant dressing room during Sardo 's performance and said `` I 've chartered a plane, we 're the guys making the money ( we should be the ones flying ahead )... the only problem is there are only two available seats. '' According to Dion, it was Valens, not Richardson, who had fallen ill, so Valens and Dion flipped a coin for the seat. In his interview, no mention is made of Jennings or Allsup being invited on the plane. Dion claims that he won the toss, but ultimately decided that since the $36 fare ( equivalent to US $300 in today 's money ) equaled the monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment, he could not justify the indulgence. Take - off and crash After the show ended, Anderson drove Holly, Valens, and Richardson to the Mason City Municipal Airport. The weather at the time of departure was reported as light snow, a ceiling of 3,000 feet ( 910 m ) AMSL with sky obscured, visibility 6 miles ( 9,700 m ), and winds from 20 to 30 mph ( 32 to 48 km / h ). Although deteriorating weather was reported along the planned route, the weather briefings Peterson received failed to relay the information. Mason City and Clear Lake, Iowa The plane took off normally from runway 17 ( today 's runway 18 ) at 12 : 55 am Central Time on Tuesday, February 3. Dwyer witnessed the take - off from a platform outside the control tower. He was able to see clearly the aircraft 's tail light for most of the brief flight, which started with an initial left turn onto a northwesterly heading and a climb to 800 ft. The tail light was then observed gradually descending until it disappeared out of view. Around 1 : 00 am, when Peterson failed to make the expected radio contact, repeated attempts to establish communication were made, at Dwyer 's request, by the radio operator, but they were all unsuccessful. Later that morning, Dwyer, having heard no word from Peterson since his departure, took off in another airplane to retrace his planned route. Within minutes, at around 9 : 35 am, he spotted the wreckage less than 6 mi ( 9.7 km ) northwest of the airport. The sheriff 's office, alerted by Dwyer, dispatched Deputy Bill McGill, who drove to the crash site, a cornfield belonging to Albert Juhl. The Bonanza had impacted terrain at high speed, estimated to have been around 170 mph ( 270 km / h ), banked steeply to the right and in a nose - down attitude. The right wing tip had struck the ground first, sending the aircraft cartwheeling across the frozen field for 540 feet ( 160 m ), before coming to rest against a wire fence at the edge of Juhl 's property. The bodies of Holly and Valens had been ejected from the torn fuselage and lay near the plane 's wreckage. Richardson 's body had been thrown over the fence and into the cornfield of Juhl 's neighbor Oscar Moffett, while Peterson 's body was entangled in the wreckage. With the rest of the entourage en route to Minnesota, Anderson, who had driven the party to the airport and witnessed the plane 's takeoff, had to identify the bodies of the musicians. County coroner Ralph Smiley certified that all four victims died instantly, citing the cause of death as `` gross trauma to brain '' for the three artists and `` brain damage '' for the pilot. Aftermath Holly 's pregnant wife, María Elena, learned of his death from the reports on television. A widow after only six months of marriage, she suffered a miscarriage shortly after, reportedly due to `` psychological trauma ''. Holly 's mother, on hearing the news on the radio at home in Lubbock, Texas, screamed and collapsed. Holly 's widow did not attend the funeral and has never visited the gravesite. She later said in an interview : `` In a way, I blame myself. I was not feeling well when he left. I was two weeks pregnant, and I wanted Buddy to stay with me, but he had scheduled that tour. It was the only time I was n't with him. And I blame myself because I know that, if only I had gone along, Buddy never would have gotten into that airplane. '' The `` Winter Dance Party '' tour did not stop ; Jennings and Allsup continued performing for two more weeks, with Jennings taking Holly 's place as lead singer. Meanwhile, the funerals of the victims were being held individually ; Holly and Richardson were buried in Texas, Valens in California, and Peterson in Iowa. Official investigation The wreckage of N3794N as found by the authorities on the morning of the accident The official investigation was carried out by the Civil Aeronautics Board ( CAB, precursor to the NTSB ). It emerged that Peterson had over four years of flying experience, of which one was with Dwyer Flying Service, and had accumulated 711 flying hours, of which 128 were on Bonanzas. He had also logged 52 hours of instrument flight training, although he had passed only his written examination, and was not yet qualified to operate in weather that required flying solely by reference to instruments. He and Dwyer Flying Service itself were certified to operate only under visual flight rules, which essentially require that the pilot must be able to see where he is going. However, on the night of the accident, visual flight would have been virtually impossible due to the low clouds, the lack of a visible horizon, and the absence of ground lights over the sparsely populated area. Furthermore, Peterson, who had failed an instrument checkride nine months before the accident, had received his instrument training on airplanes equipped with a conventional artificial horizon as a source of aircraft attitude information, while N3794N was equipped with an older - type Sperry F3 attitude gyroscope. Crucially, the two types of instruments display the same aircraft pitch attitude information in graphically opposite ways. The CAB concluded that the accident was due to `` the pilot 's unwise decision to embark on a flight '' that required instrument flying skills he had not proved to have. A contributing factor was Peterson 's unfamiliarity with the old - style attitude gyroscope fitted on board the aircraft, which may have caused him to believe that he was climbing when he was in fact descending ( an example of spatial disorientation ). Another contributing factor was the `` seriously inadequate '' weather briefing provided to Peterson, which `` failed to even mention adverse flying condition which should have been highlighted ''. Subsequent investigations On March 6, 2007, in Beaumont, Texas, Richardson 's body was exhumed for reburial in a more fitting part of the local Forest Lawn cemetery. The musician 's son, Jay Perry, took the opportunity to have his father 's body re-examined to verify the original findings, and asked forensic anthropologist William M. Bass to carry out the procedure. Among the rumors surrounding the accident that this second examination sought to verify was that an accidental firearm discharge took place on board the aircraft and caused the crash, since two months after the event, a farmer had found at the crash site a. 22 ( 5.6 mm ) pistol known to have belonged to Holly. Another rumor had Richardson surviving the initial impact and crawling out of the aircraft in search for help, prompted by the fact that his body was found farther from the wreckage than the other three. Bass and his team took several X-rays of Richardson 's body and eventually concluded that the musician had indeed died instantly from extensive, non-survivable fractures to almost all of his bones ; no traces of lead were found from any bullet. Coroner Smiley 's original report was, therefore, confirmed. In March 2015, the National Transportation Safety Board ( NTSB ) received a request to reopen the investigation into the accident. The request was made by L.J. Coon, a retired pilot from New England who felt that the conclusion of the 1959 investigation was inaccurate. Coon suspected a possible failure of the right ruddervator, or a problem with the fuel system, as well as a possible improper weight distribution. Coon also argued that Peterson may have tried to land the plane and that his efforts should be recognized. In April 2015, the NTSB declined the request, citing that the evidence presented by Coon was insufficient to merit the reconsideration of the original findings. Legacy Notification of victims ' families Following the miscarriage suffered by Holly 's wife and the circumstances in which she was informed of his death, a policy was later adopted by authorities not to disclose victims ' names until after their families have been informed. Memorials A memorial service for Peterson was held at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Ventura, Iowa, on February 5. A funeral was held the next day at St. Paul Lutheran Church in his hometown of Alta ; Peterson was buried in Buena Vista Memorial Cemetery in nearby Storm Lake. His grave site is located at coordinates N 42 39.189 W 095 13.996. Peterson 's parents later received condolence letters from the families of Holly and Valens. Films The accident is mentioned in the biographical film The Buddy Holly Story ( 1978 ). The accident is also depicted in the Ritchie Valens biopic La Bamba ( 1987 ). Memorial concerts Fans of Holly, Valens, and Richardson have been gathering for annual memorial concerts at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake since 1979. The 50th - anniversary concert took place on February 2, 2009, with Delbert McClinton, Joe Ely, Wanda Jackson, Los Lobos, Los Lonely Boys, Chris Montez, Bobby Vee, Graham Nash, Peter and Gordon, Tommy Allsup, and a house band featuring Chuck Leavell, James `` Hutch '' Hutchinson, Bobby Keys, and Kenny Aronoff. Jay P. Richardson, the son of the Big Bopper, was among the participating artists, and Bob Hale was the master of ceremonies, as he was at the 1959 concert. Monuments Signpost near the Clear Lake crash site In June 1988, a four - foot - tall granite memorial bearing the names of Peterson and the three entertainers was dedicated outside the Surf Ballroom with Peterson 's widow, parents, and sister in attendance ; the event marked the first time that the families of Holly, Richardson, Valens, and Peterson had gathered together. In 1989, Ken Paquette, a Wisconsin fan of the 1950s era, made a stainless - steel monument that depicts a guitar and a set of three records bearing the names of the three performers killed in the accident. The monument is on private farmland, about ⁄ mi ( 0.40 km ) west of the intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue, 5 mi ( 8.0 km ) north of Clear Lake. Paquette also created a similar stainless - steel monument to the three musicians located outside the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where Holly, Richardson, and Valens played their second - to - last show on the night of February 1, 1959. This second memorial was unveiled on July 17, 2003. In February 2009, a further memorial made by Paquette for Peterson was unveiled at the crash site. A large plasma - cut steel set of Wayfarer - style glasses, constructed by Michael Connor of Clear Lake, similar to those Holly wore, sits at the access point to the crash site. Roads A road originating near the Surf Ballroom, extending north and passing to the west of the crash site, is now known as Buddy Holly Place. Songs `` American Pie '' The song `` American Pie '' dubbed the accident `` The Day The Music Died '' Problems playing this file ? See media help. `` Three Stars '' ( 1959 ) by Tommy Dee is the first song to commemorate the musicians. Don McLean later addressed the accident in his song `` American Pie '' ( 1971 ), dubbing it `` the Day the Music Died '', which for McLean symbolized the `` loss of innocence '' of the early rock - and - roll generation. See also Aviation portal Iowa portal Rock and Roll portal Patsy Cline plane crash 1969 Newton Cessna 172 crash Jim Croce plane crash Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash Randy Rhoads plane crash Stevie Ray Vaughan helicopter crash Bill Graham helicopter crash References ^ Jump up to : Suddath, Claire ( February 3, 2009 ). `` The Day the Music Died ''. Time. Retrieved April 29, 2015. Jump up ^ Everitt 2004, p. 10. ^ Jump up to : http://www.startribune.com/buddy-holly-the-tour-from-hell/38282249/ ^ Jump up to : Everitt 2004, p. 13. Jump up ^ `` Connection to Buddy Holly Death ''. WeGoNews.com. Retrieved February 3, 2011. ^ Jump up to : Everitt 2004, p. 14. ^ Jump up to : Civil Aeronautics Board ( September 23, 1959 ). `` Aircraft Accident Report '' ( PDF ). National Transportation Safety Board. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on September 18, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2009. ( ) Jump up ^ `` FAA Registry ( N3794N ) ''. Federal Aviation Administration. Jump up ^ Schuck, Raymond 2012, p. 16. Jump up ^ `` American Pie ''. Snopes.com. Retrieved April 16, 2015. Jump up ^ Jennings & Kaye 1996, p. 70. Jump up ^ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. `` Consumer Price Index ( estimate ) 1800 -- ''. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved January 2, 2018. Jump up ^ DiMucci, Dion ( 1988 ). The Wanderer. Beech Tree Books. p. 89. Jump up ^ Everitt 2004, p. 15. Jump up ^ Everitt 2004, p. 16. Jump up ^ Everitt 2004, p. 17. Jump up ^ Civil Aeronautics Board ( September 23, 1959 ). `` Aircraft Accident Report '' ( PDF ). National Transportation Safety Board. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on February 26, 2009. Retrieved July 6, 2014. Jump up ^ Everitt 2004, p. 18. Jump up ^ Everitt 2004, p. 21. Jump up ^ `` Death certificates '' ( PDF ). Awesome Stories. Retrieved June 1, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Coroner 's investigation '' ( PDF ). Awesome Stories. Retrieved June 1, 2015. Jump up ^ Kerns, William ( August 15, 2008 ). `` Buddy and Maria Elena Holly married 50 years ago ''. Lubbock Avalanche - Journal. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2015. Jump up ^ Carr & Munde 1997, p. 155. Jump up ^ `` Aircraft Accident Report : File No. 2 - 0001 '' ( PDF ). Civil Aeronautics Board. September 15, 1959. p. 3, `` The Aircraft '' section. Jump up ^ Griggs, Bill. `` Big Bopper Exhumation ''. Retrieved April 26, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Autopsy of ' Big Bopper ' to Address Rumors About 1959 Plane Crash ''. The Washington Post. January 18, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Board considers reopening investigation into plane crash that caused the death of Buddy Holly ''. KITV. March 3, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2015. Jump up ^ Kilen, Mike ( March 4, 2015 ). `` NTSB considers reopening Buddy Holly crash case ''. Des Moines Register. Gannett Company. Retrieved March 5, 2015. Jump up ^ Pilkington, Ed ( March 5, 2015 ). `` Buddy Holly plane crash : officials consider reopening 1959 probe ''. The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved March 5, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Buddy Holly crash investigation will not be reopened ''. The Des Moines Register. Associated Press. April 28, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2016. ^ Jump up to : McDonald 2010, p. 33. Jump up ^ `` Winter Dance Party History ''. Surf Ballroom. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Jump up ^ Bream, Jon ( February 3, 2009 ). `` Fans Pack Surf Ballroom for Tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper ''. CMT News. Retrieved February 2, 2013. Jump up ^ Coffey, Joe ( February 5, 2009 ). `` Holly, Valens, Richardson Remembered : 50 Winters Later ''. Premier Guitar. Retrieved February 2, 2013. Jump up ^ Jordan, Jennifer ( April 11, 2007 ). `` The Day the Music Died ''. Articles Tree. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2009. Jump up ^ Jordan, Jennifer ( February 2, 2009 ). `` Memorial to Buddy Holly pilot dedicated at crash site ''. Des Moines Register. Retrieved April 14, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Clear Lake, Iowa : Buddy Holly Crash Site ''. RoadsideAmerica.com. Retrieved June 25, 2011. Jump up ^ Crouse 2012, p. 86. Jump up ^ Thimou, Theodore ( December 28, 2006 ). `` Preview : The Twice - Famous Don McLean Plays Rams Head ''. Bay Weekly. Archived from the original on June 13, 2008. Retrieved September 11, 2008. `` Buddy Holly 's Coroner 's Report ''. February 4, 1959. `` Coroner 's investigation -- Air crash, Feb. 3, 1959 -- SW1 / 4 Section 18, Lincoln Twp. -- Cerro Gordo County, Iowa ''. `` The Day the Music Died : February 3, 1959 ''. Books Carr, Joseph ; Munde, Alan ( 1997 ). Prairie Nights to Neon Lights : The Story of Country Music in West Texas. Texas Tech University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 89672 - 365 - 8. Crouse, Richard ( 2012 ). Who Wrote The Book of Love ?. Random House Digital. ISBN 978 - 0 - 385 - 67442 - 3. Everitt, Rich ( 2004 ). Falling Stars : Air Crashes That Filled Rock and Roll Heaven. Harbor House. ISBN 978 - 1 - 891799 - 04 - 4. McDonald, Les ( 2010 ). The Day the Music Died. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4691 - 1356 - 2. Jennings, Waylon ; Kaye, Lenny ( 1996 ). Waylon : An Autobiography. Warner Books. ISBN 978 - 0 - 446 - 51865 - 9. Schuck, Raymond ( 2012 ). Do You Believe in Rock and Roll ? Essays on Don Mclean 's American Pie. McFarland. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4766 - 0036 - 9. Further reading Lehmer, Larry ( 2004 ). The Day the Music Died : The Last Tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens ( illustrated ed. ). Music Sales Group. ISBN 0 - 8256 - 7287 - 2. Rabin, Staton ( 2009 ). Oh Boy ! The Life and Music of Rock ' n ' Roll Pioneer Buddy Holly ( illustrated ed. ). Van Winkle Publishing ( Kindle ). ASIN B001OQBLLG. Schinder, Scott ; Huxley, Martin ; Skinner, Quinton ( 2000 ). The Day the Music Died ( illustrated ed. ). Pocket Books. ISBN 0 - 671 - 03962 - 8. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Day the Music Died. Wikisource has original text related to this article : Aircraft Accident Report for Buddy Holly 's crash February 3, 1959 front page of the Mason City Globe - Gazette, via Newspapers.com fiftiesweb.com The Day the Music Died Bakotopia Magazine 's 50th Anniversary memorial article 1959 : Buddy Holly killed in air crash Voices of Oklahoma interview with Tommy Allsup. First person interview conducted with Tommy Allsup on September 8, 2011. Original audio and transcript archived with Voices of Oklahoma oral history project. Buddy Holly The Crickets Singles `` Love Me '' `` That 'll Be the Day '' `` Words of Love '' ( b / w `` Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues '' ) `` Peggy Sue '' ( b / w `` Everyday '' ) `` Oh, Boy ! '' `` Not Fade Away '' `` I 'm Gonna Love You Too '' `` Maybe Baby '' `` Rave On '' `` Think It Over '' `` Early in the Morning '' `` It 's So Easy '' `` Heartbeat '' `` It Does n't Matter Anymore '' ( b / w `` Raining in My Heart '' ) `` Peggy Sue Got Married '' ( b / w `` Crying, Waiting, Hoping '' ) `` True Love Ways '' `` Bo Diddley '' `` Brown Eyed Handsome Man '' `` Love is Strange '' Studio albums The `` Chirping '' Crickets Buddy Holly That 'll Be The Day Compilation albums The Buddy Holly Story The Buddy Holly Story, Vol. 2 Reminiscing Showcase Holly in the Hills Giant 20 Golden Greats For the First Time Anywhere Words of Love Greatest Hits Down the Line : Rarities Memorial Collection Tribute albums Not Fade Away ( Remembering Buddy Holly ) Rave On Buddy Holly Listen to Me : Buddy Holly Related Buddy Holly discography List of songs Bob `` Bobby '' Montgomery María Elena Holly ( wife ) Norman Petty The Day The Music Died ( 1959 plane crash ) The Buddy Holly Story Buddy -- The Buddy Holly Story `` Buddy Holly '' ( song ) Buddy Holly Center Book Ritchie Valens Studio albums Ritchie Valens Ritchie Live albums In Concert at Pacoima Jr. High Compilation albums Ritchie Valens Memorial Album Ritchie Valens... His Greatest Hits Volume 2 History of Ritchie Valens The Best of Ritchie Valens Songs `` Donna '' `` Bony Moronie '' `` La Bamba '' `` Bluebirds over the Mountain '' `` We Belong Together '' Related Del - Fi Records Chicano rock Bob Keane The Day the Music Died ( 1959 plane crash ) La Bamba ( film ) ← 1958 Aviation accidents and incidents in 1959 ( 1959 ) 1960 → Jan 8 Southeast Airlines Flight 308 Jan 11 Lufthansa Flight 502 Jan 16 Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 205 Feb 3 American Airlines Flight 320 Feb 3 Clear Lake crash ( `` The Day the Music Died '' ) Feb 17 Turkish Airlines Gatwick crash Apr 23 Air Charter Turkey crash May 12 Capital Airlines Flight 75 Jun 26 TWA Flight 891 Jun 30 Okinawa F - 100 crash Aug 15 American Airlines Flight 514 Aug 19 Transair Douglas Dakota accident Sep 24 TAI Flight 307 Sep 29 Braniff Flight 542 Oct 30 Piedmont Airlines Flight 349 Nov 16 National Airlines Flight 967 Nov 21 Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 202 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Day_the_Music_Died&oldid=854598035 '' Categories : Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1959 Aviation accidents and incidents in Iowa Aviation accidents and incidents caused by pilot error Accidents and incidents involving the Beechcraft Bonanza 1959 in Iowa 1959 in American music Cerro Gordo County, Iowa Buddy Holly Ritchie Valens Deaths by person in the United States February 1959 events Hidden categories : Good articles Use mdy dates from July 2013 Coordinates on Wikidata All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from September 2016 Articles with hAudio microformats Articles with unsourced statements from November 2017 All articles with self - published sources Articles with self - published sources from December 2017 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español Français 한국어 Հայերեն Íslenska Italiano עברית Nederlands 日本 語 Polski Português Română Русский Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Svenska 中文 10 more Edit links This page was last edited on 12 August 2018, at 13 : 56 ( UTC ). 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Question: who lost the coin toss in la bamba
Answer: Tommy Allsup