FrankR wrote:
Don McLean’s song was a tribute to all three who died in that plane crash: Holly, The Big Bopper and Richie Valens. Frugality prevented there being one more person on that flight. A seat was available to another passenger, who turned it down, refusing to pay more money for a short plane ride, than his parents paid in monthly rent on their Bronx apartment. That other person was Dion DeMucci, lead singer of the Belmonts.