The Big Bopper away their plane seats, Holly joked, "Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up again." Jennings jokingly replied, "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes." Those words haunted Jennings for the rest of his life. The Clear Lake show ended at around midnight, and Holly, Valens, and Richardson drove to the Mason City Airport, loaded their luggage, and boarded the red and white single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza. Peterson received clearance from the control tower around 1 a.m. on February 3, 1959 and they took off—but the plane remained airborne for only a few minutes. It slammed into the ground at full
Three Stars (song) Three Stars (song) "Three Stars" is a song written by Tommy Dee in 1959, as a tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper), who died in a plane crash earlier that year. The song was recorded by Tommy Dee with Carol Kay and first released on April 5, 1959, by Crest Records. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. The lyrics suggested the three "stars" represent the three musicians that died in the crash. A year after Eddie Cochran recorded the song, he died in a car accident on his