The Day the Music Died

The first week of February 1959. The days are getting noticeably longer and the frigid North Dakota winter is showing the first signs of moderating. The February thaw, we called it. I’m a senior in high school…seventeen-years-old, know everything, and looking forward to graduation so I can enlist in the Air Force.

Our world consists of hot rods, Gidget movies, white bucks, Elvis haircuts, and cars with tail fins, but most of all, it’s the music…and then we were told the music died.

On the morning of February third, we awoke to the news that a private plane crash in Iowa had taken the life of Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Richie Valens. Fifty years ago today…my God, how time flies.

Besides the horror of those three young recording stars being killed, there was a personal insult to those of us who lived in North Dakota. You see, they were on their way to our state from Iowa. It was a huge event for a state that seldom attracted talent like that. We had even debated if we should try to get tickets for the concert, but Fargo was a five hour drive away. Winter travel was risky and it would have made no difference anyway, as the event was quickly sold out.

That night, all of “our radio stations” played the music the three young men had sent to the Top-40 charts. In shock, carloads of teens cruised the streets of our small town, listening to voices that would never again record the music we loved. We were a somber group and there were some tears, a few what-if’s, and lots of why's.

However, greatness can’t be destroyed by a plane crash, and neither can memories. Thanks to technology, Buddy Holly and friends still entertain the generation that produced some of the best music ever heard. And even after we’re gone, new generations will continue to enjoy the music that will never die.

In every tragedy, some good seems to always emerge, and in this one, a local singer by the name of Bobby Vee was enlisted to perform at the event that was to have featured the three stars that died. His performance received national attention and he moved on to become a star in his own right.