Dion and the Belmonts February 3rd 1959, the plane crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, with Holly, Valens, The Big Bopper, and the pilot, Roger Peterson, all being killed. Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly’s place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were hired to finish the tour in place of the three deceased headliners. As of January 11, 2017 with the death of Holly's tour guitarist Tommy Allsup, Dion is the lone surviving member of the original Winter Dance Party lineup (The lone surviving Belmont, Angelo D'Aleo, was not on the tour as he was
Don McLean Don McLean Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He is best known for his 1971 song "American Pie", which was a number-one US hit for four weeks in 1972 and stayed put at 2 for 3 weeks in the UK, as well as a hit for Madonna in 2000. McLean's other well-known songs include: "And I Love You So", sung by Elvis Presley, Perry Como, Helen Reddy, and Glen Campbell, among others; "Vincent", a tribute to the 19th-century Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh; "Crying", a cover of the Roy Orbison song and a surprise number