Look up in the sky
Up towards the north
There are three new stars
Brightly shining forth

They're shining so bright
From heaven above
Gee, we're gonna miss you
Everybody sends their love

On the left stands Ritchie Valens
A young boy just seventeen
Just beginning to realize
And explore his teenage dreams

Why did God call him
Oh, so far away
Maybe to help some boy or girl
Who might have gone astray

With his star shining in the dark
On a lonely night
To light the path
And to show the way, the way that's right

Gee, we're gonna miss you,
Everybody sends their love

On the right stands Buddy Holly
With a shy grin on his face
Funny how you always seem to notice
That one little curl out of place

Not many people really knew Buddy
Or understood how he felt
But just a song from his lips
Would make the coldest heart melt

Buddy's singing for God now
His chorus in the sky
Buddy Holly, we'll always remember you
With tears in our eyes

Gee, we're gonna miss you,
Everybody sends their love

In the middle stands a stout man
The Big Bopper is his name
Now God has called him
Perhaps to new fortune and fame

He wore a big Stetson hat
And sort of rambled up to the mike
And how can we ever forget those wonderful words
"You know, well I might"

Look up in the sky
Up towards the north
There are three new stars
Brightly shining forth

They're shining so bright
From heaven above
Gee, we're gonna miss you
Everybody sends their love

The Day the Music Died refers to February 3, 1959, the date when a small plane crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa.  Three Rock & Roll artists were killed: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson).  Their pilot, Roger Peterson also died in the crash.

The three men were on "The Winter Dance Party" bus tour through the Midwest that was supposed to cover 24 cities in 3 weeks.   The heating system on the bus broke shortly after the tour began.  Clear Lake, Iowa was not scheduled on their tour, but their promoters were able to book the show, filling an open date on their schedule.

Before the show that night, Buddy Holly, having had enough of the tour bus, asked his bandmates to try and charter a plane to the next show, and Roger Peterson, a local pilot, agreed to fly the group to the next city. His small plane would seat three passengers in addition to the pilot.

Richardson has develpoed a case of the flu, and asked one of Holly's bandmates if he could take his place on the plane.  The bandmate, Waylon Jennings, agreed, and according to Jennings years later, when Buddy Holly heard this, he jokingly told Jennings that he hoped their old bus freezes up, to which Jennings replied, "Well, I hope your damn place crashes!"  These words haunted Jennings for many years later.

At the same time, Ritchie Valens, who had never flown in a plane before, asked Holly's remaining bandmate if he could take his seat on the plane.  They agreed to flip a coin, and Valens won the seat on the plane. Dion DiMucci of Dion & The Belmonts was also approached to join the others on the plane, but he opted out.

Investigators concluded that the crash was due to poor weather conditions and pilot error.

"Nostalgia Index"

"That's Life"		"The Good 'Ole Days"

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