For many Rock and Roll fans, February 3, 1959 will always be known as the day the music died.
On that tragic date, a tragic airplane accident occurred when a small plane flew into stormy winter weather departing from Clear Lake Iowa after completing a concert, and ctashed.
Aboard that plane, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the artist known as The Big Bopper had their music careers and lives ended swiftly and tragically.
Many Rock and Roll fans consider Buddy Holly to be one of the most important influences on Rock and Roll.
" Mr.
Holly introduced and popularized a music genre that has lasted over half a century.
Although his life ended abruptly, the little under two years that Buddy Holly performed transformed the musical world.
Perhaps his most remembered song was "That will be the day," and Mr.
Holly was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its first year's group of inductees in 1986.
Ritchie Valens life and career were popularized in the box office hit movie, "La Bamba.
" When Ritchie Valens died in this tragic crash, he had not yet even reached his eighteenth birthday, and followers can only dream about what he might have done for music had his life not been shortened.
Many consider Valens to have been the most popular music star of his time, at the time of the crash.
Valens brought Hispanics into the Rock and Roll mainstream, and if anyone has not yet seen "La Bamba," I would highly recommend it, but not unless you have a box of Kleenex next to you.
JP "The Big Bopper" Richardson was a popular, almost cult-like character, who was slightly older (at 28 years of age at his death) than Holly or Valens.
The Big Bopper was a large man who was known as a disc jockey, and his techniques and songs were distinctive.
Amongst his most popular songs were "Chantilly Lace" and "Little Red Riding Hood.
" Richardson was not the star that either Holly or Valens was, but his legend has grown significantly after his death.
'The Day The Music Died" is an expression or description made popular in the lyrics of Don McLean on his song, "American Pie.
" This song was featured on the 1971 released American Pie album, and was considered to be one of the most significant songs of that period.
The song obviously became McLean's signature song, and expresses the sorrow and loss that the music world, particular young people of the late 1950's felt, as a result of that tragedy.
Anyone who considers himself a Rock and Roll fan should always remember February 3rd, 1959.
It is amazing that it is more than 50 years ago!