On Feb. 3, 1959, Jiles Perry Richardson aka J.P. Richardson aka “The Big Bopper,” was one of three Rock n’ Roll performers on a “Winter Dance Party Tour” who entered a private plane for the next leg of their shows in the middle of a cold and stormy night.

They would never arrive to their intended destination. The plane crashed into an Iowa cornfield. The impact killed the pilot, a 21-year-old named Roger Petersen, and the three passengers: Buddy Holly, 22, Ritchie Valens, 17, and Richardson Jr., 29. They were found the next day scattered among the wreckage, half-buried in the snow. 

The Big Bopper is best known for his monster hit song “Chantilly Lace, recorded in 1958. The song sat for a while before if finally took off, eventually spending 22 weeks on the charts. But before that, J.P. was a radio DJ in Beaumont.

He was a large man, quiet, introverted, kind, almost shy, until he got behind the microphone and went on the air, where his personality changed. He almost became a wild man; he had developed an on-air persona that was unlike any other DJ in the area.

Over time he began using the alias “The Big Bopper”, and at times got loud and crazy. Doing commercials for Schlitz beer and Yazoo mowers, he would proclaim, “If you ain’t drinking Schlitz, you ain’t drinking beer!”, and “If you ain’t Yazooing, you ain’t mowin’”.

His song, “Chantilly Lace” was topping the charts when J.P. died but he had not yet seen any royalties. At the time of his death, he had $8 in a savings account, a Dodge sedan worth $400, and a $100 guitar. His wife had to pay $2,642 for his funeral expenses. His contributions to rock and roll as a singer and songwriter would later bring his estate over $100,000 per year in royalties from Chantilly Lace alone.

Sadly, just two months after the tragic death, Richardson’s wife, Adrienne Joy, gave birth to their son Jay.

Forward to 2007, when Jay contacted a renown forensic anthropologist, Dr. Bill Bass and explained that his father’s remains were going to be moved to another area of the Texas cemetery where he was buried.

Jay asked Bass to re-examine his father’s body with a desire to help him answer three, lingering questions about his father’s final moments:

• Did the Big Bopper survive the initial impact?
• Was he going for help?
• Had the Bopper been shot?

His body was found approximately 40 feet from the crumpled plane — much farther away than the others. A .22-caliber pistol belonging to Buddy Holly was found in the debris, and for years, theorists speculated that perhaps an accidental firing caused the crash. 

He was wearing a red flannel shirt with blue pants. His head was badly crushed, and according to the coroner, his skull was split open and his brain was “completely eviscerated.” The right side of his head sustained the most damage, and he couldn’t be identified merely by looking at him.

The coroner had to take his fingerprints to confirm his identity. Aside from the damage to his skull, Richardson’s arms were also fractured, and he had a small laceration on one of his fingers. There was also a laceration on his thigh where a fracture was evident. The coroner noted that bones on his chest were crushed. Internal injuries weren’t identified, as an autopsy wasn’t performed.

The report also listed the personal effects that were found on his person including a wedding ring, a key, a pair of dice, a guitar pick, and his wallet.

Dr. Bell flew to Beaumont and discovered that despite the proximity of the grave to the Gulf of Mexico, the Big Bopper was in “remarkably good condition.” His crew cut was intact, and his features were visible. Just prior to the actual autopsy, Jay, who mentioned that he had never seen his father in three dimensions before, sat with his body for an hour and a half, communicating silently. 

Through examination and x-rays Bass discovered that the Big Bopper’s frame was riddled with fractures, from his skull to his legs. Going for help after sustaining such injuries would not have been possible. Had the Bopper been shot, the ammunition would have left a lead smudge mark on his bones.

“There was no indication of foul play. There are fractures from head to toe. Massive fractures. He died immediately. He didn’t crawl away. He didn’t walk away from the plane,” Dr. Bass confirmed.

Bass, with over 700 such investigations under his belt, concluded that, unfortunately, everyone on board died instantly.

 

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IN GOD WE TRUST

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