“Elvis Presley was already in the Armed Services, Little Richard had turned his back on the music for the ministry, Chuck Berry was in jail over the Mann Act, Carl Perkins never fully recovered from a car accident, and Jerry Lee Lewis was out of favor for marrying his 13-year old cousin. “The innovators of the music were gone, when you put it into context,” said Sevan Garabedian, who is researching the tour. Now, a potential death knell for rock and roll was present. The viewpoint of music being dangerous to social norms or mores was furthered by parents and government officials.

News spread quickly, with some media outlets treating the report offhandedly.

The four young men were headed to Moorhead, MN for the next stop on the 24-date Winter Dance Party. Roger Peterson, the young pilot, was located within the wreckage. “Big Bopper” Richardson, who had been flung some 40 feet away. The bodies of Buddy Holly and Ritchie (Valenzuela) Valens were found near the fuselage, along with J.P. A few miles from Iowa’s Mason City Airport, a crumpled heap of metal that was once a Beechcraft Bonanza light plane was eventually discovered resting next to a fence in the Juhl family’s farm field. When daylight came, a slight dusting of snow had already fallen. 24, 1959 for the Winter Dance Party.įebruary 3, 1959. Ritchie Valens at George Devine's Million Dollar Ballroom Jan.

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