Big Bopper

American pop star, disc jockey and composer. He died on 3 February 1959 in a plane crash along with Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. The doomed trio, on tour, were not originally scheduled to fly, but their chartered bus broke down and Buddy hired a single engine Beech Bonanza at Mason City, IA to get them to their destination.

The Bopper had a bad cold, so another musician, Waylon Jennings, who was unknown at that time, gave up his seat. Ritchie got a seat by winning a coin toss with the guitarist, remarking that it was the first time he'd ever won anything. The pilot, Roger Peterson, 21, took off in dark bitter cold at 1:50 AM with a stiff wind blowing and light snow falling; the wingtip scraped the ground 15 minutes later. The plane bounced and tumbled for 200 yards, scattering debris everywhere. They were found by a search plane at 9:30 AM the next day.

The Big Bopper was the most successful of the trio with a hit song on the charts, "Chantilly Lace." He was a novelty act. Holly was tired of performing, and aimed to go into record producing. Ritchie had the most promising and bright future.