HARROWING images show the aftermath of the tragic plane crash that killed rock-and-roll icon Buddy Holly 64 years ago today.
The rockstar, born Charles Hardin Holley, died alongside his fellow bandmates Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson on February 3, 1959.
All three were killed in a small plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, as they were traveling to Moorhead, Minnesota.
Their pilot, 21-year-old Roger Peterson, also died when their chartered 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza plane crashed just minutes after taking off in Mason City, Iowa.
Holly and the other musicians were on tour and headed to their next stop in Fargo, North Dakota, when the plane crashed in a winter storm.
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February 3, 2023, marks the 64th anniversary of the tragic plane crash.
Holly, Valens, and Richardson were memorialized by legendary singer-songwriter Don McLean approximately 12 years after the crash.
McLean released his hit song "American Pie" in 1971 about the horror February accident.
Some of the lyrics to the eight-minute and 36-second song were as follows: "But February made me shiver. With every paper, I'd deliver. Bad news on the doorstep. I couldn't take one more step.
"I can't remember if I cried. When I read about his widowed bride. Something touched me deep inside. The day the music died."
Photographs from the crash scene show the body of one of the three singers killed in the single-engine plane crash.
The photos appear to show one of the men facedown on the ground after the plane crashed on a snow-covered farm.
Another flick shows debris spread out across the crash scene and the mangled red-and-white Beechcraft Bonanza plane.
Two months after the accident, a local farmer found Holly's belongings, consisting of his eyeglass frames without the lenses, a watch band, watch, and dice.
Other objects left behind are believed to be Big Bopper's watch back plate and a Zippo lighter.
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The items collected at the crash site were placed in an envelope with the names of the deceased handwritten on it.
The Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock, Texas, will host a special event on February 3, 2023 - a yearly free event dedicated to the life of the famed musician and those who passed alongside him.
Holly, who was born in Lubbock, was a country music singer before changing his style to Rock-and-Roll.
