( CNN ) Many years ago I performed at the Surf Ballroom , in Clear Lake , Iowa , which was the last stop on Buddy Holly 's final tour . He was killed in a plane crash in 1959 that also took the lives of singers J.P. `` The Big Bopper '' Richardson and Ritchie Valens . By this time , Buddy Holly and I had had a pretty long history together . The concert that I performed at had all the old members of his group . Donna , who Ritchie Valens wrote a song about , was also there . Peggy Sue , who Buddy Holly sang about , was there too . The Picks were there -- they sang background vocals on Buddy 's records -- as well as singer Tommy Allsup , who claimed that years later he got his wallet back from the crash site . Unfortunately some fans at this show were selling crash-site photos , which I thought was in extremely bad taste . I think the prospect of the National Transportation Safety Board delving into the crash again , which might mean exhuming bodies and all the rest , would be in similarly bad taste . I think there 's a reason we say , `` rest in peace . '' Buddy Holly would have the same stature musically whether he would have lived or died , because of his accomplishments which , in retrospect , nobody -- and I mean nobody , not the Beatles the Rolling Stones or anyone else -- can beat , for these reasons : By the time he was 22 years old he had recorded some 50 tracks , most of which he had written himself and each of them , in my view and the view of many others , a hit . Buddy Holly and the Crickets were the template for all the rock bands that followed . No rock ' n ' roll records can touch songs like `` Rave On , '' `` Think it Over , '' `` Not Fade Away , '' `` Peggy Sue '' and many , many more . He was also a sensitive , ballad composer and singer , which people often overlook , with songs like `` Moondreams '' and `` True Love Ways , '' among many . As a paperboy , I cut open the stack of papers on February 3 , 1959 , and saw that Buddy Holly had been killed in the plane crash . The next day I went to school in shock , and guess what ? Nobody cared . Rock ' n roll in those days was sort of like hula hoops and Buddy had n't had a big hit on the charts since '57 , nor had the others in the plane crash . Americans in those days were always looking ahead . Death was not lingered over . We 'd had enough of that in World War II . Death and grief did not go with the exuberance and bright colors of the 1950s . Since then we have embarked on what I would call the `` American death trip . '' One simply has to look at the slew of autopsy shows on television and the endless regurgitation of Marilyn , Elvis and JFK death details to get my point . Furthermore , because of the ever-growing psychological power of the media , we seem to think we can reach back half a century and touch things as if they are real . We live in a virtual nostalgic world because of this . Fortunately , Buddy Holly 's music is forever young and all any young person has to do is listen to it and his life will be changed forever .
Don McLean : It 's bad idea for Buddy Holly to re-examine 1959 crash that killed NTSB , `` Big Bopper , '' Ritchie Valens . He says it 's distasteful ; they should `` rest in peace '' He says looking at crash case again is only part of the `` American death trip '' that pervades our culture .