On February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly — the bespectacled Texas songwriter whose crisp vocals and groundbreaking fusion of country, rhythm and blues, and rockabilly helped define early rock and roll — died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa at the age of 22. On board with him were 17-year-old rising star Ritchie Valens, whose crossover hit “La Bamba” signaled a new, bilingual future for pop music, and J.P. Richardson, known as the Big Bopper, the 28-year-old radio personality turned recording artist behind the novelty smash “Chantilly Lace.” Together, their deaths marked one of the first great tragedies in modern pop culture — a moment later immortalized as “the day the music died,” when three young architects of rock and roll were lost in a single, devastating night.
Hosts: Jason Beckerman & Derek Kaufman
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