For many people, the most notable date in February is Valentine’s Day. But for those familiar with the history of rock music, two others stand out: Feb. 3, 1959 — “the day the music died,” as Don McLean described it in his 1971 hit “American Pie” — and Feb. 9, 1964, when the Beatles made their first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
The urge to debate runs deep in human nature, so it’s only natural that some rock fans like to argue about which date is more significant. For many who treasure the music of the late 1950s, it’s no contest: That dark day in 1959, when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper were killed when their plane crashed in a snow-covered field in Iowa, casts the longest shadow in rock music history.
No one can deny the magnitude of the loss. All three musicians were no strangers to the pop charts. Holly, in particular, was the very definition of a rising talent: a guitar-playing vocalist who co-wrote some of that era’s most memorable hits, including “That’ll Be the Day” and “Peggy Sue.”
