Frankie Sardo Frankie Sardo Frank Sardo Avianca (September 16, 1936 – February 26, 2014), who performed as Frankie Sardo, was an American rock and roll singer, actor and film producer. He was a member of the ill-fated Winter Dance Party in 1959 after which Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson lost their lives in a plane crash the morning after a show in Clear Lake, Iowa. He was born Frank Marco Sardo on September 16, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York, into an Italian-American family. His father, Marco Sardo Sr. was a bricklayer and his mother Anita (Avianca) Sardo,
The Big Bopper fatal plane crash, Tommy Dee wrote and recorded a song titled "Three Stars" in tribute to Richardson, Holly, and Valens. It was later recorded by Eddie Cochran, a friend of the three musicians who himself would die prematurely a year later in an automobile crash. Van Halen's song "Good Enough" from their 1986 album "5150" begins with singer Sammy Hagar calling out "Hello Baby!", imitating the Big Bopper's hook in "Chantilly Lace". Phil Lewis of L.A. Guns does the same in their song "17 Crash" from their 1989 album "Cocked & Loaded". The "Simpsons" episode "Sideshow Bob Roberts" features a