Which country music legend, who died in 2002, gave up his seat to the 'Big Bopper' on the ill fated plane?
"in Fort Worth, Texas called Heads Up. Waylon Jennings voluntarily gave up his seat to J. P. Richardson (the Big Bopper), who had influenza and complained that the tour bus was too cold and uncomfortable for a man of his size. The pilot, Roger Peterson, took off in inclement weather, although he was not certified to fly by instruments only. Shortly after 1:00 am on February 3, 1959, Holly, Valens, Richardson, and Peterson were killed instantly when their plane crashed into a cornfield five miles northwest of the Mason City, Iowa airport shortly after takeoff. Holly's funeral was held on"
"Cowboy Copas Lloyd Estel Copas (July 15, 1913 – March 5, 1963), ""the Country Gentleman of Song"", known by his stage name Cowboy Copas, was an American country music singer popular from the 1940s until his death in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars Patsy Cline and Hawkshaw Hawkins. He was a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Copas was born in 1913 in Blue Creek, Ohio, in Adams County. He began performing locally at age 14, and appeared on WLW-AM and WKRC-AM in Cincinnati during the 1930s. In 1940 he moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he"
"The Big Bopper Jiles Perry ""J. P."" Richardson Jr. (October 24, 1930 – February 3, 1959), known as The Big Bopper, was an American musician, singer and songwriter whose rockabilly look, style, voice, and exuberant personality made him an early rock and roll star. He is best known for his 1958 recording of ""Chantilly Lace"". On February 3, 1959, Richardson died in a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa, along with music stars Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens and pilot Roger Peterson. The accident was famously referred to as ""The Day the Music Died"" in Don McLean's 1971 song ""American"
"Ernest E. ""Jimmy"" Walker Ernest E. ""Jimmy"" Walker (December 18, 1915 – June 27, 1990) was an American country musician. Although relatively little has been written about Jimmy Walker, he ranks as an important figure in the development of country music. Not only did he record the first version of the country standard ""Detour"" in 1945, but to date he is the only man who ever replaced Roy Acuff on the Grand Ole Opry. He also recorded numerous other outstanding western swing-honky tonk numbers, appeared as a regular on Midwestern Hayride, WWVA Jamboree and Louisiana Hayride, and appeared in several"
"for his 50-year membership. Grammer died on August 10, 2011, aged 85, at Benton Hospital, where he had been receiving treatment for a long-term illness, which included suffering a heart attack seven months earlier. Billy Grammer Billy Wayne Grammer (August 28, 1925 – August 10, 2011) was an American country music singer and accomplished guitar player. He recorded the million-selling ""Gotta Travel On"", which made it onto both the country and pop music charts in 1959. Grammer would become a regular performer on the Grand Ole Opry, eventually designing, and marketing his namesake guitar after co-founding a guitar company, in"
"the Belmonts were part of the historic and tragic Winter Dance Party tour that lost three performers in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa--Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. ""The Big Bopper"" Richardson. DiMucci was offered a seat on the plane by Holly, but thought the fee of $36 was too much for such a short plane ride and declined. Photographs taken at the concert the night before the accident show Holly filling in on drums for The Belmonts, whose drummer had frostbite. Being a skilled drummer already, Carlo Mastrangelo filled in on drums for several of the other"
"Grand Ole Opry at times with Acuff. Wheeler was onstage playing with Rev. Jimmie Snow in 1984 when he collapsed and died of a heart attack. Onie Wheeler Onie Wheeler (November 10, 1921–May 26, 1984) was an American country and bluegrass musician. Wheeler was born in Senath, Missouri, and learned to play guitar and harmonica as a child. After serving in World War II, he started working in radio, appearing on stations in Missouri, Arkansas, Michigan, and Kentucky. In 1950, he formed The Ozark Cowboys, along with Ernest Thompson, A.J. Nelson and Doyal Nelson. The Ozark Cowboys went to Nashville"
"3, 1963 Patsy Cline along with numerous other stars sang at a Memorial Hall benefit for the family he left behind. After leaving from Fairfax Airport two days later, Cline, along with Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas and concert promoter/manager Randy Hughes were all killed in the 1963 Camden, TN Piper Comanche plane crash en route to Nashville. On February 23, 2010, Cy Blumenthal (1913–1983) was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame during the annual induction ceremonies in Nashville. He was recognized as the first man to own a chain of Large Market radio stations in the Country"
"Hawkshaw Hawkins Harold Franklin Hawkins (December 22, 1921 – March 5, 1963), better known as Hawkshaw Hawkins, was an American country music singer popular from the 1950s into the early 1960s known for his rich, smooth vocals and music drawn from blues, boogie and honky tonk. At 6 ft 5 inches tall, he had an imposing stage presence, and he dressed more conservatively than some other male country singers. Hawkins died in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas. He was a member of the Grand Ole Opry and was married to country"
"his second appearance on ""The Ed Sullivan Show"" in January 1958 and soon after, toured Australia and then the UK. In early 1959, he assembled a new band, consisting of future country music star Waylon Jennings (bass), famed session musician Tommy Allsup (guitar), and Carl Bunch (drums), and embarked on a tour of the midwestern U.S. After a show in Clear Lake, Iowa, he chartered an airplane to travel to his next show, in Moorhead, Minnesota. Soon after takeoff, the plane crashed, killing Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson in a tragedy later referred to by"
"traditional folk material and topical songs inspired other groups such as the Kingston Trio, the Chad Mitchell Trio, The New Christy Minstrels, and the ""collegiate folk"" groups such as The Brothers Four, The Four Freshmen, The Four Preps, and The Highwaymen. All featured tight vocal harmonies and a repertoire at least initially rooted in folk music and topical songs. On 3 February 1959, a chartered plane transporting the three American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. ""The Big Bopper"" Richardson goes down in foggy conditions near Clear Lake, Iowa, killing all four occupants on board,"
"of Fame in September 2002. Bill Carlisle William Toliver Carlisle (December 19, 1908 – March 17, 2003), better known as Bill Carlisle and Jumpin' Bill Carlisle, was an American country music singer, songwriter, comedian, and guitarist popular in the late 1940s and 1950s but who influenced the genre for more than 50 years. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Carlisle was born in Wakefield, Kentucky southeast of Louisville. He performed in the 1920s with his older brother, Cliff Carlisle, on radio stations WLAP-AM in Lexington, Kentucky and WNOX-AM in Knoxville, Tennessee. His first solo single"
"Tennessee at age 80. He had undergone bypass surgery prior to his death. Ernest Ashworth Ernest Bert Ashworth (December 15, 1928 – March 2, 2009) was an American country music singer, broadcaster, and longtime Grand Ole Opry star. Signed to the Hickory label, he recorded two studio albums in his career and charted several singles on ""Billboard"" Hot Country Songs, including the number one ""Talk Back Trembling Lips"" and seven other top ten hits. Born Ernest Bert Ashworth in Huntsville, Alabama on December 15, 1928, he began his career singing on Huntsville radio station WBHP-AM. In 1949, he moved to"
"music and punk fans. His band later became the opening act for the Butthole Surfers. He had cameo roles in feature films with Western swing settings, especially an acclaimed and memorable role as the lead singer in a rodeo dance band, singing ""I'll Hold You in My Heart,"" in the 1998 Stephen Frears film ""The Hi-Lo Country"" — a performance often regarded as one of the highlights of the picture. In September, 2003, Don Walser retired from live performances due to health issues. Three years later, Walser died due to complications from diabetes on September 20, 2006, six days after"
"be replaced by a statue. A posthumous album, ""My Way"", was released in 1964. Cochran was a prolific performer, and the British label Rockstar Records has released more of his music posthumously than was released during his life. The company is still looking for unpublished songs. One of his posthumous releases was ""Three Stars"", a tribute to J. P. Richardson, better known as the Big Bopper, and Cochran's friends Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, who had all died in a plane crash just one year earlier. Written just hours after the tragedy by disc jockey Tommy Dee, it was recorded"
"(2006). ""Room Full of Roses"" also peaked at No. 25 on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100. George Morgan (singer) George Thomas Morgan (June 28, 1924 – July 7, 1975) was a mid-20th-century American country music singer. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and a former member of the Grand Ole Opry. Morgan was born to Zachariah ""Zach"" Morgan and Ethel Turner in Waverly, Tennessee, but was raised in Doylestown, Ohio. He was, along with a few other contemporaries (most notably Eddy Arnold and Jim Reeves), referred to as a ""country crooner;"" his singing style being more"
"topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with Russell's song ""Let's Fall to Pieces Together."" In 1987, Russell hosted his first annual concert in Moorhead, MS at the MS Delta Community College Coliseum. These went on for 13 years, his final on April 29, 2000. By 2001, Russell's health had been in a state of decline (for years, he had used his obesity as a running joke on the Grand Ole Opry), and in April 2001, both of his legs were amputated because of diabetes. Russell died July 3, 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 61 from diabetes-related"
"acts on the tour, including Ritchie Valens and J.P. ""The Big Bopper"" Richardson. When Bunch had to be left behind in Wisconsin, hospitalized for frostbite he experienced after the tour bus heater failed, Holly and Valens took turns in the drum chair playing behind the various acts. On February 3, 1959, Holly, Valens, and Richardson were killed in a plane crash en route to the next tour stop. Bunch rejoined the tour on February 5, in Sioux City, Iowa. Ronnie Smith, Jimmy Clanton and Fabian were also recruited to help fill out the playbill. The tour ended on February 15,"
"long periods in the hospital. Finally, he suffered a heart attack on 4 February 1977, from which he died in the intensive care unit of a Nashville hospital on 22 March 1977. Stoney Cooper Dale Troy Cooper (October 16, 1918–March 22, 1977), known professionally as Stoney Cooper, was an American country star and member of the Grand Ole Opry. He was a master of the fiddle and the guitar. Cooper was the son of Kenny and Stella (Raines) Cooper of Harman, Randolph County, West Virginia. His family was among the first settlers of Randolph and Pendleton counties, and these roots"
"Dave Carter Dave Carter (August 13, 1952 – July 19, 2002) was an American folk singer-songwriter who described his style as ""post-modern mythic American folk music."" He was one half of the duo Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, who were heralded as the new ""voice of modern folk music"" in the months before Carter's unexpected death in July 2002. They were ranked as number one on the year-end list for ""Top Artists"" on the ""Folk Music Radio Airplay Chart"" for 2001 and 2002, and their popularity has endured in the years following Carter's death. Joan Baez who went on tour"
"tour the band's trombone player and vocalist Cyril McKevitt died of a heart attack. In 2010, Big Tom announced an extensive series of tour dates. From 2011 until his death in 2018, Big Tom and his band continued to perform with sporadic appearances. Big Tom suffered from a fear of flying. In 1980, he undertook a sea voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to record his ""Blue Wings"" album in Nashville. In 2000, Big Tom underwent a nodule operation on his throat. In November 2006, Big Tom suffered a sudden heart attack at the age of 70, which had put doubt"
"Bill Lister ""Big Bill"" Lister (January 5, 1923 – December 1, 2009) was an American honky tonk country music singer. Born Weldon E. Lister, he was nicknamed ""Radio's Tallest Singing Cowboy,"" standing over 6-foot-7 without his cowboy boots and hat. For several years in the 1950s, he traveled with Hank Williams, Sr., as the opening act for Williams and his ""Drifting Cowboys."" As a regular performer on the Grand Ole Opry, Lister worked with most of the stars of the day, including Little Jimmy Dickens, String Bean, Minnie Pearl, Del Wood, The Carter Family, and others. He was also a"
"to celebrate 50 years of ""Gentle Mother"" In June 2016, Big Tom became the inaugural artist to be inducted into the Irish Country Music Hall of Fame. Big Tom Tom McBride (18 September 1936 – 17 April 2018), known as Big Tom, was an Irish country, traditional and easy listening singer, as well as a guitarist, and saxophone player. With a career spanning over five decades, he started his career in 1966 as the frontman of the Irish showband Big Tom and The Mainliners. On 1 February 2008, Big Tom began a 12-date tour of Ireland after doctors gave him"
"the tour bus has broken down. The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens join him on the flight. Meanwhile, the Crickets, feeling nostalgic, appear unexpectedly at Maria's door, expressing their desire to reunite the band. They plan to surprise Buddy at his next tour stop. After playing his final song, ""Not Fade Away"", Holly bids the crowd farewell with: ""Thank you Clear Lake! C'mon. We love you. We'll see you next year."" A caption then reveals that Holly, Valens, and the Bopper died in a plane crash that night ""...and the rest is Rock and Roll."" Actor Gilbert Melgar is briefly"
"first annual Old Timers' Show. He died on July 2, 1982, in Nashville, and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery there. In 2005, Nashville Public Television produced the documentary ""DeFord Bailey: A Legend Lost"". The documentary was broadcast nationally through PBS. Bailey was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on November 15, 2005. The DeFord Bailey Tribute Garden at the George Washington Carver Food Park in Nashville was dedicated on June 27, 2007. The ""Encyclopedia of Country Music"" called him ""the most significant black country star before World War II."" DeFord Bailey DeFord Bailey (December 14, 1899 – July"
"died on January 31, 2011 in Wheeling, West Virginia, aged 96. Doc Williams (singer) Doc Williams (June 26, 1914 – January 31, 2011) was an influential American country music band leader and vocalist. Born as Andrew John Smik, Jr. in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, he got his professional start playing with the Kansas Clodhoppers during the early 1930s. Doc eventually formed his own band, Doc Williams and the Border Riders. The group went on the air on WWVA Wheeling in 1937; soon, with the addition of comedian Froggie Cortez and cowboy crooner ""Big Slim the Lone Cowboy"","
"unveiled at the crash site. A large plasma-cut steel set of Wayfarer-style glasses similar to those Holly wore sits at the access point to the crash site. A road originating near the Surf Ballroom, extending north and passing to the west of the crash site, is now known as Buddy Holly Place. The Day the Music Died On February 3, 1959, American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. ""The Big Bopper"" Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson. The event later became known as ""The Day"
"25 successful conventions, Poe retired in 1996. After his ""official"" retirement in 1996, in 1999 he created The Grand Grove Opry in Grove, Oklahoma. This music theater showcased local and national Country music talent and shows were broadcast weekly on KITO radio in Vinita, Oklahoma. After new owners bought the Opry building, Mr. Poe continued to promote Country music concerts until 2005. In March 2009 Bobby Poe and The Poe Kats were inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame. Bobby Poe died at his home in Grove, Oklahoma on January 22, 2011. He had been diagnosed with throat cancer"
"as an assistant. However, the project was cancelled. Frye died February 3, 1959 in a car accident in Tucson, Arizona, exactly 33 years to the day after his founding of Standard Air Lines. The death received limited coverage, due to the deaths of famous musicians Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, and The Big Bopper in a plane crash on the same day. He was originally buried in Tucson, but now is at rest in Wheeler, Texas. In Martin Scorsese's 2004 biopic of Howard Hughes, ""The Aviator"", Frye was portrayed by actor Danny Huston. Jack Frye William John ""Jack"" Frye (March 18,"
"the Salt Lick Foundation and with Michael H. Price and Slim Richey's jazz ensemble, Diddy Wah Diddy. Bill Lister ""Big Bill"" Lister (January 5, 1923 – December 1, 2009) was an American honky tonk country music singer. Born Weldon E. Lister, he was nicknamed ""Radio's Tallest Singing Cowboy,"" standing over 6-foot-7 without his cowboy boots and hat. For several years in the 1950s, he traveled with Hank Williams, Sr., as the opening act for Williams and his ""Drifting Cowboys."" As a regular performer on the Grand Ole Opry, Lister worked with most of the stars of the day, including Little"
"with the band on several, long, jazzy jams over six minutes each. Bumpus died of a heart attack at age 58 on February 3, 2004 while on an airline flight from New York to California, where he was scheduled to perform at the Columbia College Jazz Concert Series. The plane made an emergency landing in Sioux City, Iowa to try to help him, but Bumpus died by the time the plane reached the ground. With Clifford Coulter With Moby Grape With The Doobie Brothers With Donald Fagen With Steely Dan Cornelius Bumpus Cornelius Bumpus (May 7, 1945 – February 3,"
"to be traveling on the ""Super Chief"", a press release was issued to allow the media to interview and photograph the star. Legendary Jazz Pianist Fats Waller died of pneumonia at the age of 39 on board the Santa Fe Super Chief on December 15, 1943. In time the passenger list would include many Hollywood stars, such as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, James Cagney, Judy Garland, and Bing Crosby. The train's appeal was not limited to those in the entertainment industry, as it also"
"Death of Stevie Ray Vaughan On Monday, August 27, 1990, American musician Stevie Ray Vaughan was killed in a helicopter crash near East Troy, Wisconsin at age 35. He was one of the most influential blues guitarists of the 1980s, described by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as ""the second coming of the blues"". Vaughan spent much of his last days performing with his band Double Trouble as the opening act for Eric Clapton at Alpine Valley Music Theatre. After the concert concluded, he and three members of Clapton's tour entourage boarded a helicopter that crashed into the"