Jack Frye as an assistant. However, the project was cancelled. Frye died February 3, 1959 in a car accident in Tucson, Arizona, exactly 33 years to the day after his founding of Standard Air Lines. The death received limited coverage, due to the deaths of famous musicians Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, and The Big Bopper in a plane crash on the same day. He was originally buried in Tucson, but now is at rest in Wheeler, Texas. In Martin Scorsese's 2004 biopic of Howard Hughes, "The Aviator", Frye was portrayed by actor Danny Huston. Jack Frye William John "Jack" Frye (March 18,
Don McLean California's Stagecoach Country Music Festival. In May 2015, McLean undertook his 20th nationwide tour of the UK and Ireland. In 1991, McLean returned to the UK top 20 with a re-issue of "American Pie". Iona College conferred an honorary doctorate on him in 2001. In February 2002, "American Pie" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004, McLean was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Garth Brooks presented the award and said, "Don McLean: his work, like the man himself, is very deep and very compassionate. His pop anthem 'American Pie' is a cultural phenomenon". Two years