6, 1999, at the spot where the plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J.P. It’s difficult not to wonder if by creating the song “American Pie,” McLean single-handedly elevated a moment that would have been lost - or at least dulled - to the annals of pop music history into “the day the music died,” something we collectively “remember.”ĪP Photo/Rodney White, FileFlowers adorn a memorial Feb. “And the stuff we focused on, the ‘57 Chevy’s, the hula-hoops, the rock ‘n’ roll: that stuff was thought of as candy for children.” It said ‘Three rock ‘n’ rollers killed in plane crash.’ That’s how insignificant that music was to the general population those days.” “And the newspaper didn’t even mention his name. And I was in absolute shock, because I sort of communed with Buddy Holly. “On that day, I remember cutting those papers open and seeing that story. He speaks of learning about the plane crash almost lyrically, slowly and meticulously recounting the detail of cutting through the cardboard in which fresh newspapers were wrapped to load them “into your newsboy canvas bag.” He was 13 years old in 1959 and, “at that point in my life, I don’t think I’d seen a $5 bill, certainly never a $10,” McLean says.Īccording to the musician, that was the reason he couldn’t afford many records, so he only owned three: two by Holly and one by the Everly Brothers.

McLean still speaks wistfully about the infamous accident, painting vivid pictures in a recent interview with the Washington Post of a youth spent making ends meet as a paperboy and by cutting lawns with a “cast-iron lawn mower” for 50 cents a pop while “beginning to play the guitar.” It is, after all, one of at least two songs that wouldn’t exist if not for that fateful crash (the other being Weezer’s hit “Buddy Holly”). And even though he was a pioneering figure in early rock ‘n’ roll, it’s entirely possible that might have happened to Holly - and his bandmates - too.īut that crash is seared into the American consciousness thanks to the most popular 8½-minute song that drunk people like to sing at karaoke, that poetic Wikipedia article on the history of early rock ‘n’ roll: “American Pie” by Don McLean.

These moments generally dissipate as the next Big News Item breaks. These days, songs by the recently deceased shoot to the top of streaming services as fans dole their grief out on social media. It is always difficult to determine the impact of death on culture. The crash killed everyone on board, including pilot Roger Peterson.ĪP Photo, fileAmerican rock and roll singer Buddy Holly performs in the 1950s. Wintry conditions brought the plane down near Clear Lake, Iowa. Everyone on board was there by chance: Richardson took Waylon Jennings’ spot on the plane because Jennings had the flu Valens won a coin toss with Tommy Allsup for his seat and Holly wanted to get to Moorhead, Minnesota, early to do the band’s laundry in preparation for a show. Though its notes are now familiar to anyone with a passing knowledge of American rock ‘n’ roll music, the story remains a tragic one. In that time, partially because of the crash, they’ve become such outsize cultural figures - Holly, especially - that it’s almost difficult to imagine a world in which their lives weren’t so brutally snatched away. (aka the Big Bopper) was 28 when the incident took their lives as well.Īll three of these young men have now been dead nearly three times as long as they were alive. Ritchie Valens was 17 and Jiles Perry Richardson Jr. Buddy Holly was 22 years old when he died in a plane crash 60 years ago this week.

Last song buddy holly sang