The world of entertainment has often been shaped by triumph, tragedy, and luck. In particular, fatal accidents have at times taken away cherished performers, while near misses have spared others. One of the most well-known of these tragedies was the airplane crash that killed rock and rollers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson (the Big Bopper) outside of Clear Lake, Iowa, on February 3, 1959. As Don McLean referred to in his song American Pie, it was the “day the music died.” But on that day, luck and chance were also front and center.
Holly, Valens, and Richardson, along with Dion and the Belmonts and Frankie Sardo were on a rock-and-roll concert tour of the upper Midwest dubbed the “Winter Dance Party.” The weather was brutal, the tour bus broke down repeatedly, and the distance between venues was extreme.
The tour included 24 Midwestern cities in 24 days spread out over hundreds of miles. By the time they reached their eleventh stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly decided to charter a plane to get to the next concert in Morehead City, Minnesota, which is directly across the Red River from Fargo, North Dakota. The plane could carry three passengers plus the pilot.
According to Dion Dimucci, during the early part of the show at the Surf Ballroom on Monday February 2 while Frankie Sardo was on stage, Holly called Dion, Valens, and Richardson into the dressing room. According to Dion, Holly said, “I’ve chartered a plane, and we’re the guys making the money so we should be the ones flying ahead, the only problem is there are only two available seats.” Dion, Richardson, and Valens decided to flip a coin to decide who of the three would get the two seats. Whoever flipped heads would get to go on the plane.
Richardson was up first and flipped heads, ensuring he would claim the first seat on the plane. Next up, Dion also won the flip, getting heads, but after learning the price of the plane fare, decided that he would give up his seat to Valens, who had become sick at this point of the tour. Following this impromptu meeting in the dressing room, Richardson, Dion, Valens, and Holly each gave their performances in front of 1,500 fans.
After the concert, Holly, Valens, and Richardson drove a few miles to the Mason City Municipal Airport, where the plane was waiting to take them to Minnesota. The plane took off at 12:55 a.m., and five minutes later crashed, killing all four on board.
Meanwhile, Dion had boarded the bus along with the rest of the tour members, which drove overnight arriving in Morehead City the next morning. When they arrived at the hotel, he learned that the plane Holly had chartered had crashed, killing all four. He immediately realized that it was only luck that was the difference between life and death and how close he had come to dying. In fact, he had won the coin flip, and therefore was entitled to have the last seat on the airplane, but at the last minute decided to give up his seat to Richie Valens.
An alternative scenario of the fateful coin flip is recalled by Bob Hale, a local DJ at the time and the emcee for the evening. Earlier in the evening, Holly had promised the final seat on the plane to his guitarist Tommy Allsup. After Valens closed out his four-song set with “La Bamba,” there was a short intermission before the second half of the show. During the intermission, Valens asked Allsup for his spot on the plane, but Allsup refused.
Finally, Valens suggested to Allsup, “I’ll tell you what. Let’s flip for it.” Allsup agreed, but neither had a coin in their pocket. Hale then offered, “I have a quarter, Ritchie. You call it.” Valens called heads, the coin was flipped, and it landed on heads. Hale declared, “Okay, Ritchie. You’re flying.” Valens is reported to have said, “That’s the first time I’ve ever won anything in my life.”
I recently visited the Surf Ballroom and stood in the dressing room where the coin flip took place. I could imagine the coin being suspended in mid-air with the fate of at least two individuals held in the balance. But there is one last ironic twist to this story. The night of the Clear Lake concert was originally an open date on the tour schedule. There was no concert planned for Monday February 2. It was only added to the schedule a few days before. Had it not been a late addition to the tour, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and J. P. Richardson might very well be alive to this day. The random factor had once again had its say.