Classic Rocker's Casket To Be Auctioned
Big Bopper Died In Crash With Holly, Valens
POSTED: Monday, January 5, 2009
UPDATED: 9:48 am CST January 5,
2009
The original casket used to the bury singer of the rock 'n' roll classic "Chantilly Lace" will soon be up for bids.According to the Enterprise of Beaumont, Texas, the family of J.P. Richardson, also known as The Big Bopper, will put the casket on eBay in the next few weeks. The 28-year-old Richardson died on Feb. 3, 1959, in the crash of a small plane in a field near Clear Lake, Iowa, that also killed 1950s rock stars Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens.Rocker Don McClean penned a memorial tune, "American Pie," about the tragedy -- a line in the song lead to the tragedy being dubbed, "The Day the Music Died."The 16-gauge steel casket held The Big Bopper for 38 years until he was exhumed in 1997 so experts could answer questions about his death and move his body to a new site. After that, the singer was reburied in a new casket.According to the Enterprise, the old casket is in good shape, with just a few rust spots and a white lime stain from where water leaked into the vault, but the water never seeped into the casket.The Big Bopper's son, Jay Richardson, wants to use the money from the casket's sale to fund a musical about his father.Richardson says he has no personal use for the casket and added, "When you get down to it, it is just a metal box."
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