On February 2, 1959, The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, and Buddy Holly had just played a gig in Clear Lake, Iowa, and they were scheduled to travel to Moorhead, Minnesota next. Prior to that, the musicians had been traveling in a freezing tour bus, and Holly decided to charter a plane to get to their next gig. The three boarded a small Beechcraft Bonanza plane at approximately 12:30 a.m. on February 3. Shortly after takeoff, the plane crashed into a cornfield just a few miles from the airport...
On February 2, 1959, The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, and Buddy Holly had just played a gig in Clear Lake, Iowa, and they were scheduled to travel to Moorhead, Minnesota next. Prior to that, the musicians had been traveling in a freezing tour bus, and Holly decided to charter a plane to get to their next gig. The three boarded a small Beechcraft Bonanza plane...
Known for his signature "hiccup technique" and "horn-rimmed glasses," Buddy Holly's distinct vocals and clean-cut look would forever remain a part of his legacy. When his autopsy was released, it was revealed that he had 2 cufflinks and the "top portion of a ballpoint pen" on him (via Cooper Toons). Holly's iconic glasses, the ones he was so famous for...
How did '50s rock & roll maestro Charles Hardin Holley earn his stage name? Well, it came about mostly serendipitously, being equal parts a nickname he'd been given as a child and the result of a simple spelling mistake. Here's how the moniker Buddy Holly came about...
Ritchie Valens was one of rock n' roll's earliest and most promising stars. A pop music titan while still just a teenager, he emerged in 1958 as a talent to be reckoned with, combining a voice that was at turns soulful and peppy with a preternatural talent for playing the guitar with precision and speed. By early 1959, Valens had shown off his skills with...
Despite their relatively non-hostile workplaces, however, the deaths of musicians are often highly publicized and deeply mourned among the wider cultural community. These deaths don't usually come from mid-gig accidents or health and safety disasters, but from problems extending beyond the stage. Drug overdoses, plane crashes, and shootings have been...
