Dion DiMucci with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he couldn't justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board: Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger
The Buddy Holly Story (album) Story" as a 12" 33⅓ rpm LP record, they also released the four songs "It Doesn't Matter Anymore", "Heartbeat", "Raining In My Heart", and "Early in the Morning" – which were included on the LP version – as a 7" 45 rpm EP record which was also titled as "The Buddy Holly Story" (catalog number EC-81182). The EP peaked at #9 on "Billboard" magazine's Best Selling Pop EPs chart. In April 1960, Coral Records released a sequel to "The Buddy Holly Story" titled "The Buddy Holly Story, Vol. 2". The album was also used as the title of the soundtrack