Trivia

He was running a fever the night of February 3, 1959, so Waylon Jennings gave up his seat on the ill-fated flight.

Is portrayed by Gailard Sartain in The Buddy Holly Story (1978), Stephen Lee in La Bamba (1987), and John Ennis in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007).

He had a habit of writing checks that bounced. Several are still thumb-tacked to the wall next to his 8x10 glossy photos at the KTRM studios in Beaumont, Texas, where he worked.

The Big Bopper made what may have been the very first music video. According to his son, Richardson was convinced that video was the wave of the future. At the time of his untimely death, he was working on a jukebox that could play videos.

On February 3, 1959, he performed with Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. Afterward, they boarded a plane that crashed in a nearby field, killing them. That day is now known as "The Day the Music Died".

In June 1988, a 4-foot tall granite memorial bearing the names of pilot Roger Peterson, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) was dedicated outside the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. The event marked the first time that the families of Holly, Valens and Richardson had gathered together.

Following his untimely death, he was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Funeral Home in Beaumont, Texas. His grave has a historic plague already been installed and a bronze statue of the early rock and roll star was erected.

Richardson was an extremely gifted songwriter. Some think that once he had lived, he would have had a very successful songwriting career. As part of his stage act, the Big Bopper would pretend to talk to someone on a telephone before beginning his song.

His family and friends described him as having a genuine sense of humor and that this wasn't part of his stage persona. His family and friends also knew him as Jape; a combination of his initials (J.P.).

The son of an oil worker, the Big Bopper came from a modest background. Upon becoming successful, he was determined to provide his family with the things that he never had.

Posthumously inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame (2010).