Buddy Holly
Singer Don McLean says Buddy Holly should be left in peace:
Many years ago I performed at the Surf Ballroom, in Clear Lake, Iowa, which was the last stop on Buddy Holly’s final tour. He was killed in a plane crash in 1959 that also took the lives of singers J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson and Ritchie Valens.
By this time, Buddy Holly and I had had a pretty long history together. The concert that I performed at had all the old members of his group. Donna, who Ritchie Valens wrote a song about, was also there. Peggy Sue, who Buddy Holly sang about, was there too. The Pickswere there — they sang background vocals on Buddy’s records — as well as singer Tommy Allsup, who claimed that years later he got his wallet back from the crash site.Unfortunately some fans at this show were selling crash-site photos, which I thought was in extremely bad taste. I think the prospect of the National Transportation Safety Board delving into the crash again, which might mean exhuming bodies and all the rest, would be in similarly bad taste. I think there’s a reason we say, “rest in peace.”
