Today is the 50th anniversary of “The Day Music Died” – a phrase immortalized by Don McLean in his song American Pie to describe the deaths of 3 musicians who all died in the same plane crash: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and JP “The Big Bopper” Richardson.

Buddy Holly was only 22 when he died, and Ritchie Valens was just 17.  Yet they’re both inductees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  That’s pretty crazy.  Wanna know what’s crazier?  Holly chartered a plane, and there was one seat left and two people who wanted it – Valens and this other dude.  So they flipped a coin for it, and Valens won.  So he got on the plane that crashed a few minutes later.

Here’s an article describing what fans are doing to commemorate this day.

Now, I’ll be honest.  I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to things like this, so I apologize to all the rock and roll fans out there for not realizing the significance of this day.  I’ve never even heard of The Big Bopper.  Good name though, huh?  And while I’ve heard of Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, I don’t know which songs they sang.  So I did a little reading up, and it turns out that Ritchie Valens made that La Bamba song!  I know that song!  And Buddy Holly made Peggy Sue, which I’ve heard of, but am not really sure how it goes.  But I do kind of sort of know how That’ll Be the Day goes, and he made that song too.  I did know, however, through cultural osmosis that Buddy Holly was the guy with the guitar and the horn-rimmed glasses.

I am an musical infidel, I know.

So all thanks goes to G, who alerted me to this day just moments ago.

You can learn more about these musicians at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Here are the links for Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens.  And here’s one for The Big Bopper.