At nine a.m. that morning, Jerry Dwyer, the owner of the plane Peterson was piloting, boarded a plane to search for the missing Beechcraft Bonanza. This came after several unsuccessful attempts by Dwyer to reach Peterson.
After searching by air for only a few minutes, Dwyer spotted the plane’s wreckage in a cornfield below. The plane was found at a downward angle, sloped to the right. It was estimated to be traveling 170 miles an hour when it struck the ground, rolled 570 feet, and ended up balled against a wire fence. The pilot died inside while all three musicians were thrown from the aircraft. The medical examiner concluded that all four onboard died instantly from trauma to the head.
As investigators sought to piece together what happened, they concluded poor visibility brought on by bad weather conditions played a huge role in the crash. They also believed Peterson may not have been well versed in using flight instruments and may have been used to relying on his own vision. Investigators also believed he was not given an accurate account of the severity of the weather. Had he known how bad the conditions were, he may have never taken off.
When Buddy Holly’s .22 pistol was found in the cornfield a few months later, theories of foul play began to surface. However, no evidence ever supported these theories and the accident was ruled just that: an accident.
More devastating than the loss of musical talent was the loss of youth. At the times of their deaths The Big Bopper was 28, Buddy Holly was 22, Roger Peterson was 21, and Ritchie Valens was 17.
In memory of The Day the Music Died, Ken Paquette, a music lover from Wisconsin, built a monument of stainless steel. The monument contains a steel guitar, and three records. It bears the names of the three musicians who perished as well as the pilot's. It is located near the sight of the crash.
A similar monument was unveiled on July 17, 2003 outside the Riverside Ballroom in Wisconsin. The River Side Ballroom was where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper played on February 1, 1959, roughly thirty hours before the world of music changed forever.
Article comments
1 - your wiki guide
whew! that was tragic! i really don't know much in the music history and it's really sad to know that I never saw these musicians and even heard their music. or yet, i already heard some but without knowing they are the one sung it.
2 - Christopher Rose
Personally, I think music died when the second hand, regurgitated, derivative crap that Oasis produce first came out.
Or the 1990s.
3 - JC Mosquito
A test post, and..... Oasis? They're second hand and derivative, but hey do it so well that it actually sounds pretty fresh at times. I suppose in this day & age, everything is derivative - there's only so many useful chord changes.
4 - JC Mosquito
Another test comment without a URL entry...
Oasis? Sure - everything is derivative nowadays - there's only a finite number of chord changes pleasing to the ear. At least they can fake it well enough to occasionally make it sound original. And isn't one of the perks of rock 'n'roll reinventing yourself or your own reality?
5 - Barbara Liebowitz
I was born on Buddy's Holly's birthday and always loved him,i celabrate both our birthday's on september 7th