Three Stars (song) Three Stars (song) "Three Stars" is a song written by Tommy Dee in 1959, as a tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper), who died in a plane crash earlier that year. The song was recorded by Tommy Dee with Carol Kay and first released on April 5, 1959, by Crest Records. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. The lyrics suggested the three "stars" represent the three musicians that died in the crash. A year after Eddie Cochran recorded the song, he died in a car accident on his
American Pie (song) of the crash that killed Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, that writing the first verse of the song exorcised his long-running grief over Holly's death and that he considers the song to be "a big song ... that summed up the world known as America". McLean dedicated the "American Pie" album to Holly. It was also speculated that the song contains numerous references to post-World War II American events (such as the murders of civil rights workers Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner), and elements of culture, including 1960s culture (e.g. sock hops, cruising, Bob Dylan, The