History Music / TheBigBopper

* CoolOldGuy: He was 28 when he scored his first hit, which isn't particularly old, but it is for a rock star.[[note]] When Don [=McLean=] mentions "The three men I admired most / The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" in the last verse of "American Pie", the Big Bopper was the Father, as not only did he have a daughter (and a son on the way) at the time of the crash, but he was the oldest of the three by six years.[[/note]]

Jiles Perry "J. P." Richardson Jr. (October 24, 1930 –- [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Music_Died February 3, 1959]]), known as [[StageNames The Big Bopper]], is best remembered for his big 1958 hit and SignatureSong "Chantilly Lace" and for being one of three RockAndRoll musicians, along with Music/BuddyHolly and Music/RitchieValens, who died in the tragic plane crash that has come to be known as "The Day the Music Died" (a term coined in "Music/AmericanPie" by Music/DonMcLean).

Jiles Perry "J. P." Richardson Jr. (October 24, 1930 – February 3, 1959), known as [[StageNames The Big Bopper]], is best remembered for his big 1958 hit and SignatureSong "Chantilly Lace" and for being one of three RockAndRoll musicians, along with Music/BuddyHolly and Music/RitchieValens, who died in the tragic plane crash that has come to be known as "The Day the Music Died" (a term coined in "Music/AmericanPie" by Music/DonMcLean).

* ShoutOut:
** "Three Stars" by Music/EddieCochran is a tribute to Holly, Valens and the Big Bopper. Cochran's voice audibly cracks at several points in the song. What's worse, the poor guy had to record several takes... and would die himself in 1960, only a year after the trio's passing.
** Music/DonMcLean's "Music/AmericanPie" is a {{Homage}} to the deaths of Buddy Holly, Valens and the Big Bopper.
** ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn'': In "Cold Feet" a flashback shows a pregnant young Grandma planning to leave for a flight with Music/BuddyHolly, Music/RitchieValens and the Big Bopper, but then she goes into labor before she can leave.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
*** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E5SideshowBobRoberts Sideshow Bob Roberts]]", Bart and Lisa discover that Sideshow Bob filled in the names of deceased people to win the popular vote, including Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. A close-up of The Big Bopper's gravestone shows that his epitaph is: "Gooooodbye baby!''
*** An Itchy & Scratchy cartoon in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS14E15CEDoh C.E.D'oh]]" has Scratchy go aboard the plane that carried Holly, Valens and the Big Bopper, who somehow turned out to be vampires too.
** "Chantilly Lace" is used in the film ''Film/TrueRomance''.
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', "Roswell That Ends Well": When told that they might not get back to their own time, Prof. Farnsworth laments that they'll have to "endure the horrible music of the Big Bopper, and then the terrible tragedy of his death."
** ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' heavily implies that MauveShirt supervillain Dragoon is the Big Bopper, having faked his death. (Red Mantle, his [[MultipleHeadCase constant companion]], is Buddy Holly.)
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', "Meet Minerva": When Newt the Dog first sees [[MsFanservice Minerva Mink]] and [[WildTake goes berserk]], he manifests a '50s suit on himself and exclaims "Ooh baby, that's what I like!" quoting "Chantilly Lace." Later Minerva does the same thing when she meets a sexy guy.

* RefrainFromAssuming: "Chantilly Lace" is not called "Heeeelllloooo, Baby".

Richardson was a radio disc jockey from Texas who gave himself the on-air name "The Big Bopper" for his big, burly frame and daily rock 'n' roll show "The Bop". He quit the radio business in 1958 to devote himself to songwriting and performing, and recorded "Chantilly Lace" that year for the D Records label. After getting picked up by Creator/MercuryRecords for national distribution it spent 22 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Top 40, topping out at #6.

Richardson was a radio disc jockey from Texas who gave himself the on-air name "The Big Bopper" for his big, burly frame and daily rock 'n' roll show "The Bop". He quit the radio business in 1958 to devote himself to songwriting and performing, and recorded "Chantilly Lace" that year for the D Records label. After getting picked up by Creator/MercuryRecords for national distribution, it spent 22 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Top 40, topping out at #6.

** "Three Stars" by Music/EddieCochran is a tribute to Holly, Valens and the Big Bopper. Cochran's voice audibly cracks at several points in the song. What's worse, the poor guy had do record several takes...and would die himself in 1960, only a year after the trio went.

*** In "Sideshow Bob Roberts" Bart and Lisa discover that Sideshow Bob filled in the names of deceased people to win the popular vote, including Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. A close-up of The Big Bopper's gravestone shows that his epitaph is: "Gooooodbye baby!''
*** An Itchy & Scratchy cartoon in "C.E.D'oh" has Scratchy go aboard the plane that carried Holly, Valens and the Big Bopper, who somehow turned out to be vampires too.