The Big Bopper

J.P. Richardson was born in Sabine Pass, Texas, the oldest son of oil-field worker Jiles Perry Richardson (1905–1984) and his wife Elise (Stalsby) Richardson (1909–1983). They had two other sons, Cecil (1934–1989) and James (1932–2010). The family soon moved to Beaumont, Texas. Richardson graduated from Beaumont High School in 1947 and played on the "Royal Purple" American football team as a defensive lineman, wearing number 85.[2] Richardson later was a radio disc jockey while at Lamar College,[3] where he studied prelaw and was a member of the band and chorus.

Richardson was married to Adrienne Joy "Teetsie" Wenner (1936–2004) and had a daughter, Debra (1953–2006). His son Jay Perry Richardson was born two months after his death, in April 1959. Richardson had been building a recording studio in his home in Beaumont, Texas, and was planning to invest in a radio station. He had written 20 new songs that he planned to record himself or with other artists. His son also followed a musical career and was known professionally as "The Big Bopper, Jr.", performing around the world. He toured on the "Winter Dance Party" tour with Buddy Holly impersonator John Mueller on some of the same stages where his father had performed.

In January 2007, Jay Richardson requested that his father's body be exhumed and an autopsy be performed in response to an internet rumor about guns being fired aboard the aircraft and Richardson initially surviving the crash.[8] The autopsy was performed by William M. Bass, a forensic anthropologist at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Richardson was present throughout the autopsy and observed the casket as it was opened; both men were surprised that the remains were well enough preserved to be recognized as those of the late rock star. "Dad still amazes me 48 years after his death, that he was in remarkable shape," Richardson told the Associated Press. "I surprised myself. I handled it better than I thought I would".[9] Bass's findings indicated no signs of foul play. "There are fractures from head to toe. Massive fractures…. [Richardson] died immediately. He didn't crawl away. He didn't walk away from the plane."[9]

Richardson's body was placed in a new casket made by the same company as the original and was reburied next to his wife in Beaumont's Forest Lawn Cemetery. Jay Richardson allowed the old casket to be displayed at the Texas Musicians Museum. In December 2008 he announced that he would be placing the old casket up for auction on eBay, donating a share of the proceeds to the Texas Musicians Museum,[10] but he downplayed the suggestion in later interviews.[11] He died of heart failure in 2013.[12] The family announced "It is with great sadness that we must tell you that Jay P Richardson has passed away. After a long hard fight, JP succumbed on the morning of August 21, at the age of 54".[13]

C3 Entertainment handles the rights to the Richardson estate, through an agreement with Jay's widow Patty.[14]

Monument in front of Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa

With the success of "Chantilly Lace", Richardson took time off from KTRM radio and joined Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and Dion and the Belmonts for a "Winter Dance Party" tour starting on January 23, 1959. On the 11th night of the tour (February 2, 1959), they played at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. That night, Holly chartered an airplane from Dwyer Flying Service in Mason City, Iowa, intending to fly himself and his bandmates Waylon Jennings and Tommy Allsup to their next tour venue in Moorhead, Minnesota. The musicians had been traveling by bus for over a week, and it had already broken down twice. They were tired, they had not been paid yet, and all of their clothes were dirty. The chartered flight would allow them to avoid another arduous bus ride, arrive early before the Moorhead show, do their laundry, and get some rest. Local pilot Roger Peterson of Dwyer Flying Service (age 21) had agreed to take them. The weather forecast for the Clear Lake area was 18 °F (−8 °C) that night with moderate gusty winds and light scattered snow, and Peterson was fatigued from a 17-hour workday, but he agreed to fly the trip.

Frankie Sardo went to meet the crowd while Holly went into one of the dressing rooms at the Surf Ballroom where he notified Allsup and Jennings that he had chartered a plane to take them to Fargo, North Dakota (which is directly adjacent to Moorhead, Minnesota). On a friendly wager, Valens flipped a coin with Allsup for his seat on the plane—and won. Meanwhile, J.P. Richardson was suffering from the flu and was complaining that the bus was too cold and uncomfortable for him, so Jennings voluntarily surrendered his seat. Upon hearing that his bandmates had given away their plane seats, Holly joked, "Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up again." Jennings jokingly replied, "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes".

The Clear Lake show ended at around midnight and Holly, Valens, and Richardson drove to the Mason City Airport, loaded their luggage and boarded the red and white single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza. Peterson received clearance from the control tower around 12:55 a.m. on February 3, 1959, and they took off—but the plane remained airborne for only a few minutes. It crashed at full throttle shortly after takeoff about 5 miles outside Mason City in the middle of farm country. The reason remains unknown but Peterson may have lost his visual reference and thought that he was ascending while he was actually descending. The right wingtip of the Bonanza hit the frozen ground and sent the aircraft cartwheeling across a cleared cornfield at approximately 170 miles per hour (270 km/h).

Holly, Valens and Richardson were thrown from the aeroplane on impact and likely tumbled along with the wreckage across the icy field before the wreckage of the aircraft came to rest against a barbed-wire fence, while Peterson's body remained entangled in the wreckage. The bodies of Holly and Valens came to rest several feet away from the wreckage on open ground; Richardson was thrown approximately 100 feet (30 m) beyond the wreckage across the fence line and into the next cornfield. All three died instantly of head and chest injuries. Richardson was 28 years old.

• "Chantilly Lace", No. 6 hit for the Big Bopper
• "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor"
• "Little Red Riding Hood"
• "Walking Through My Dreams" (two versions, one on 45-RPM only, the other on LP)
• "Beggar to a King" (recorded under his real name), (later recorded by Hank Snow in 1961, it made it to No. 5 on the country singles chart)
• "Crazy Blues" (recorded under his real name)
• "Bopper's Boogie Woogie"
• "That's What I'm Talking About"
• "Pink Petticoats"
• "Monkey Song (You Made a Monkey out of Me)"
• "It's the Truth, Ruth" (two versions, one on 45-RPM only, the other on LP)
• "Preacher and the Bear"
• "Someone Watching Over You"
• "Old Maid"
• "Strange Kisses"
• "Teenage Moon"
• "The Clock"
• "One More Chance"
• "She Giggles"
• "The Big Bopper's Wedding"

Monument at crash site, September 16, 2003

In 1988, Ken Paquette, a Wisconsin fan of the 1950s era, erected a stainless steel monument at the crash site depicting a guitar and a set of three records bearing the names of each of the three performers. It is located on private farmland, about one-quarter-mile west of the intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue, about eight miles north of Clear Lake. Paquette also created a similar stainless steel monument to the three near the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The memorial was unveiled on July 17, 2003.[15]

J.P. Richardson's pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. The Big Bopper is fondly remembered not only for his distinctive singing and songwriting, but also as a humorist who combined the best elements of country, R&B, and rock 'n' roll.

In 2010, Richardson was inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.[16]

Richardson's name is mentioned as one of the upcoming musical acts in both the print and television versions of Stephen King's short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" about a town inhabited by late musical legends. Buddy Holly is subsequently featured in the story.

The Canadian television comedy show SCTV featured a character named "Sue Bopper-Simpson", a fictional daughter of the Big Bopper, played by Catherine O'Hara. The character was a part-time real estate agent who appeared in a musical titled I'm Taking My Own Head, Screwing It on Right, and No Guy's Gonna Tell Me That It Ain't.

Shortly after the fatal plane crash, Tommy Dee wrote and recorded a song titled "Three Stars" in tribute to Richardson, Holly, and Valens. It was later recorded by Eddie Cochran, a friend of the three musicians who himself would die prematurely a year later in an automobile crash.

The accident was referred to as "The Day the Music Died" in Don McLean's 1971 song "American Pie".[17]

Van Halen's song "Good Enough" from their 1986 album 5150 begins with singer Sammy Hagar calling out "Hello Baby!", imitating the Big Bopper's hook in "Chantilly Lace". Phil Lewis of L.A. Guns does the same in their song "17 Crash" from their 1989 album Cocked & Loaded.

The Simpsons episode "Sideshow Bob Roberts" features a gravestone of The Big Bopper in Springfield that Sideshow Bob (Kelsey Grammer) used to help commit voter fraud and become elected for mayor. The gravestone is a bust of the Big Bopper holding a telephone receiver, with the epitaph reading "The Big Bopper", his birth and death years (1930–1959), then a parody on the memorable hook reading "Gooooodbye, baby". He also appeared as a vampire holding a telephone in an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon during the episode "C.E.D'oh".

An episode of The X-Files features the Big Bopper. The episode is called "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose".

The Big Bopper's estate is currently owned by his daughter-in-law, Patty Richardson, and managed by C3 Entertainment, a company that specializes in classic brands. C3 Entertainment currently manages an official tribute band featuring a Big Bopper impersonator, touring with the Winter Dance Party. In 2019, the Winter Dance Party debuted the film Bopper and Me.[18]

In Not Fade Away, a turbulent road novel taking place at the end of the fifties, Jim Dodge narrates an eventful trip to the Big Bopper's grave.[19]

Richardson was portrayed by Gailard Sartain in The Buddy Holly Story, Stephen Lee in La Bamba, and John Ennis in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

"Chantilly Lace" is used in the movies True Romance and American Graffiti as well as "High Spirits" and "Cocktail".[20]

In the animated series The Venture Bros., it is implied that the elderly villains Dragoon and Red Mantle are actually Richardson and Buddy Holly, who were recruited into the supervillain organization the Guild of Calamitous Intent on the night of their supposed deaths.

• Escott, Colin (1998). "The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson)". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 35, ISBN 978-0195395631
• Tribute: The Day the Music Died at The Death of Rock: The Archive

• Richardson, Jiles Perry from the Handbook of Texas Online
• J.P. Richardson discography at Discogs
• The Big Bopper at Find a Grave