American Pie (song) by Madonna in 2000 and reached No. 1 in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. McLean's combined version is the fourth longest song to enter the Billboard Hot 100, at the time of release it was the longest, in addition to being the longest song to reach number one. The repeatedly mentioned phrase "the day the music died" refers to the plane crash in 1959 which killed early rock and roll performers Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. (The crash was not known by that name until after McLean's song became a hit.) The meaning
Ritchie Valens (album) Ritchie Valens (album) Ritchie Valens is the first album by Ritchie Valens, posthumously released by Del-Fi Records in March 1959, one month after his death in a plane crash. It is his only studio album entirely composed of master tracks recorded at Gold Star Studios. The album peaked at #23 on the "Billboard" album chart. The original pressings are black and sea green with circles around the outer edge. The print font for the track listings on these labels is the same font used on the back of the album cover. Later pressings feature black labels with gold and sea