Don McLean label for his second album, "American Pie." The album launched two number one hits in the title song and "Vincent". "American Pie"'s success made McLean an international star and piqued interest in his first album, which charted more than two years after its initial release. McLean's magnum opus, "American Pie", is a sprawling, impressionistic ballad inspired partly by the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) in a plane crash in 1959, and developments in American youth culture in the subsequent decade. The song popularized the expression "The Day the Music Died" in reference to
Buddy Holly discography originals, multiple versions of the same songs are available. There are also many different versions of Holly's "Greatest Hits" as well as covers and compilation albums of his songs performed by various artists. Many singles and albums of his material have been released posthumously, beginning with "Peggy Sue Got Married" in July 1959 and the successful 6-disc collectors box set Not Fade Away: The Complete Studio Recordings, some 50 years later in 2009 Buddy Holly discography Buddy Holly recorded under several names and with several different backing bands. The Crickets played on almost all of his singles in 1957 and