This is about the death of Buddy Holly. "The Day The Music Died" is February 3, 1959, when Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper were killed in a plane crash after a concert. McLean wrote the song from his memories of the event. The Beatles Sgt. Pepper album was a huge influence, and McLean has said in numerous interviews that the song represented the turn from innocence of the '50s to the darker, more volatile times of the '60s - both in music and politics. (thanks, Kristine - Loveland, OH)

February 3rd, 1959 was the day a plane crase killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper.

I love that song. That was before my time but Richie Valance & a few other great singers were killed in a plane crash. Roberts Flacks song Killing me softly is about the day she heard that song

February 3, 1959. That's the date of the plane crash in Iowa that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper.

February 3 1959. The video is an attempt to explain the song, if you are interested.

"American Pie is a folk song by singer-songwriter Don McLean about "the day the music died." Recorded in 1971 and released that year on the album of the same name, the single was a number-one U.S. hit for four weeks in 1972. The song is an allusive history of rock and roll that starts with the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. Richardson, Jr. (The Big Bopper) in a plane crash in 1959, and ends in 1970. The importance of "American Pie" to America's musical and cultural heritage was recognized by the Songs of the Century education project which listed the song performed by Don McLean as the number five song of the twentieth century. The song's lyrics are the subject of much curiosity. Although McLean dedicated the American Pie album to Buddy Holly, none of the singers in the plane crash are identified by name in the song itself. Asked what "American Pie" meant, McLean once replied, "It means I never have to work again." Later, he more seriously stated, "You will find many 'interpretations' of my lyrics but none of them by me...Sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence."" "The Day the Music Died Main article: The Day the Music Died The Day the Music Died is the name McLean gave to February 3, 1959, the day an aircraft carrying musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper crashed, killing all three. But, as he explained on his web site, the date has a profound meaning to McLean because it marked a major change in his life: "In Don's life the transition from light (the innocence of childhood) to the darker realities of adulthood probably started with the death of Buddy Holly and culminated with the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 and the start of a more difficult time for America."" Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_pie Further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Music_Died

It's about the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. According to Maclean, everything after that was downhill.