María Elena Holly on January 27, 1959. In the early morning hours of February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly was on tour when he, together with Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, died in an airplane crash. Holly and Santiago had been married for only six months at the time of his death. She learned of his death from the reports on television. A widow after only six months of marriage, she suffered a miscarriage shortly after, reportedly due to "psychological trauma". Buddy was interred in Lubbock. Santiago-Holly did not attend the funeral and has never visited the grave site. She told the "Avalanche-Journal":
Buddy Holly The Rolling Stones had a hit version of the song in 1964. Richards later said, "[Holly] passed it on via the Beatles and via [the Rolling Stones] ... He's in everybody". Don McLean's popular 1971 ballad "American Pie" was inspired by Holly's death and the day of the plane crash. The song's lyric, which calls the incident "The Day the Music Died", became popularly associated with the crash. McLean's album "American Pie" is dedicated to Holly. In 2015, McLean wrote, "Buddy Holly would have the same stature musically whether he would have lived or died, because of his accomplishments ...