McLean grew up in New Rochelle, New York, and he was working as a paperboy in 1959. Richie Valens was 17, just four years older than Don McLean. That plane crashed shortly after takeoff, killing everyone on board. So he chartered a plane to fly him to the next show in Moorhead, Minnesota. Holly usually travelled by bus, but he was sick of wearing dirty clothes, and he wanted a little time to unwind and do laundry before the next gig. Holly was sharing the bills with Dion & The Belmonts, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper, and a young Waylon Jennings was playing bass in his band. This was a ridiculous tour, all small upper-Midwest cities and cold climates.
One night in February 1959, Buddy Holly and his band had just played a show in Clear Lake, Iowa. In The Number Ones, I’m reviewing every single #1 single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the chart’s beginning, in 1958, and working my way up into the present.ĭon McLean was 13 on the day the music died.
