The Day the Music Died

Legends being larger than life, the plain truth is that the facts get set aside for the better story.

From Lynard Skinnard to Stevie Ray, once rockers get on the smoking goonie birds to make the next show, crazy hijinks ensue. Who needs the following buzzkill?:

(Yahoo News) KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson suffered massive fractures and likely died immediately in the 1959 plane crash that also killed early rock 'n' rollers Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, a forensic anthropologist said Tuesday after exhuming the body.

...There have been rumors a gun might have been fired on board the plane and that the Big Bopper might have survived the crash and died trying to get help.

...Bass took X-rays of the body and found nothing Tuesday to support those theories.

"There was no indication of foul play," Bass said in a telephone interview from Beaumont.

"There are fractures from head to toe. Massive fractures. ... (He) died immediately. He didn't crawl away. He didn't walk away from the plane."

The rock 'n' roll stars' plane crashed after taking off from Mason City, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 1959 — a tragedy memorialized as "the day the music died" in Don McLean's song "American Pie."


This got me questionning whether Ricky Nelson really did set his plane on fire freebasing cocaine that ignited the coke whores....

Rumors that drug use among the passengers caused the crash frequently resurface, but the original NTSB investigation long ago stated that the crash was probably due to mechanical problems. An examination indicated the fire originated in the right hand side of the aft cabin area at or near the floor line. The ignition and fuel sources could not be determined, although many believe that the most likely cause was a defective cabin heater. The pilot indicated that the crew tried to turn on the cabin heater repeatedly shortly before the fire occurred, but that it failed to respond. After the fire, the access panel to the heater compartment was found unlatched. The theory is supported by records that showed that DC-3s in general, and this aircraft in particular, had a previous history of problems with the cabin heaters. (Wikipedia)


It just sits better with the public that the great one's died from sex/drugs/rock'n'roll instead of crappy planes that nobody should be in because music promoters are trying to squeeze even more money out of performers.