This Day in History:, The Day the Music Died.br February 3, 1959.br Rising American rock stars br Buddy Holly, J.P. “The Big Bopper” br Richardson and Ritchie Valens are killed.br Their chartered Beechcraft Bonanza plane br crashed in Iowa a few minutes after br takeoff from Mason City.br 22-year-old Holly br had chartered the br plane for his band.br Because Richardson had the flu, br he convinced Holly’s band member, br Waylon Jennings, to give up his seat.br 17-year-old Valens won br a coin toss for the seat.br Singer Don McLean memorialized br the crash in “American Pie,” referring to br the tragedy as “the day the music died.