The Day the Music Died: Rock ‘n’ Roll legends die in tragic plane crash.

It was on this day back in 1959 when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson and their pilot Roger Peterson died in a plane crash, a tragedy that has been remembered as “The Day the Music Died.”

A chartered plane carrying the rock stars crashes soon after takeoff from Clear Lake, Iowa, killing all three along with pilot Roger Peterson. An investigation later determined that a combination of poor weather conditions and pilot error caused spatial disorientation that made Peterson lose control of the plane.

The rock stars, touring as part of the Winter Dance Party tour, had chartered the plane to avoid a long bus ride in cold weather from the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake to the next show in Moorhead, Minnesota.

Holly was 22, Valens was 17 and Richardson was 28 at the time of the crash. Waylon Jennings, then a member of Holly’s backup band, gave up his seat on the flight to Richardson, who was suffering from the flu, while Tommy Allsup, another member of Holly’s band, lost his place to Valens on a coin toss.