67 Years Since The Day The Music Died And Why Waylon Jennings Wasn’t On That Flight

What Happened The Day The Music Died

It's been 67 years since the night the music world changed forever, or as Don McLean proclaimed, the day the music died. On February 3, 1959, an impressive collection of (up-and-coming at the time) musicians were playing the Winter Dance Party tour across the Midwest. At the time, musicians traveled in groups for themed tours, a pastime we generally only see on this scale in festival form these days. At the time, Waylon Jennings wasn't the powerhouse country outlaw he is remembered as today. He was nothing more than the bassist of Buddy Holly's band, once known as The Crickets. Given it was the middle of winter, the weather in the area was awful. The group was passing the flu around in a regular cycle, and no one was excited about boarding a bus without heat in those conditions. In fact, the bus was so miserable, band member Carl Bunch had severe frostbite on his feet at one point. Holly decided to charter a flight after the musicians finished their performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, as they were set to play in Moorhead, Minnesota, the next night. Not long after takeoff, due to wintry conditions and poor nighttime visibility, the pilot lost control of the aircraft and crashed in a field nearby. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J.P. Richardson, "The Big Bopper", and the pilot all lost their lives in the crash.

Weird And Ironic Details From The Day The Music Died

The evening remains a tragic memory of how quickly something magical can be taken away. It's a devastating reminder to live each day and every moment for what it's worth. Few understand this more than the musicians who didn't get on that plane. In one situation, two musicians flipped a coin to determine who would get a seat on the plane. The winner, Richie Valens, is quoted as saying, "That's the first time I've ever won anything in my life!" However, the musician who might have had the worst grief to deal with was Waylon Jennings. Guaranteed one of the three available seats on the plane, Waylon was approached by The Big Bopper, who was fighting the flu, and due to his size, he couldn't get comfortable to get rest on the bus. He asked Waylon for his seat on the plane, and without hesitation, Waylon and his big heart obliged. As if the irony of this isn't enough to deal with, Waylon's last words to Holly would go on to haunt him the rest of his life. From the book Falling Stars: Air Crashes That Filled Rock And Roll Heaven:

"Jennings recalled Holly asking him to get food for the band the night of their flight. “He was leaning back against the wall in a cane-bottom chair, and he was laughing at me. He said, ‘So, you’re not going with us tonight on the plane, huh? Well, I hope your ol’ bus freezes up. It’s 40 below out there, and you’re gonna get awful cold.’ So I said, ‘Well, I hope your ol’ plane crashes.’”

Following the tragedy, Waylon stepped away from music for a few years and returned as the outlaw country legend we know him as today. He released his second number one album, Are You Ready For The Country, which includes the heart-wrenching song he wrote about Buddy Holly, titled Old Friend. His love shines through with lyrics like, "People talk about you after all this time, you were many things to many people, but you were a friend of mine." Check out the full lyrics here and listen to the song below.

Get our free mobile app