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
Don McLean number 5 in a poll of the 365 Songs of the Century compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. On April 7, 2015, McLean’s original working manuscript for "American Pie" sold for $1,205,000 (£809,524/€1,109,182) at Christie’s auction rooms, New York, making it the third highest auction price achieved for an American literary manuscript. Personnel from the "American Pie" album sessions were retained for his third album, "Don McLean", including the producer, Ed Freeman, Rob Rothstein on bass and Warren Bernhardt on piano. The song "The Pride Parade" provides an insight into McLean's