Jiles Perry "J. P." Richardson, Jr., know as The Big
Bopper was born in Sabine Pass, Texas, on October 24, 1930. In March
1955, he was drafted into the United States Army and did his basic
training at Fort Ord, California. He spent the rest of his two years
service as a radar instructor at Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas. 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. After a concert on
February 3, 1959, in Clear Lake Iowa, a charted plane went down killing
all aboard.
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