Although February is the shortest calendar month of the year, it has served as one of the most significant months for momentous musical events — both happy and sad.
On Feb. 3, 1959, a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, took the lives of promising young rock musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson (known as the “Big Bopper”). In his 1972 classic ode “American Pie,” singer-songwriter Don McLean memorialized the tragic event as “the day the music died.”
Yet five years and just a few short days later — Feb. 9, 1964 — the music experienced a rebirth. This was when the Beatles, just after flying in from their native United Kingdom, performed live for the first time in the United States on the popular TV program “The Ed Sullivan Show.” The Beatles’ phenomenal success on the U.S. pop charts led to a great burst of creativity in performing and songwriting that continues — in fits and starts — to this day.
