Tommy Dee recorded his own version, featuring Carol Kay & the Teen-Aires. Dee delivered the grief in spoken form, but Carol Kay & the Teen-Aires are what make the record sound like a vigil… and helped shape the sound people actually heard and remembered. #TommyDee #OneHitWondered

Tommy Dee was working at KFXM in San Bernardino and was on air when news came across the teletype about the plane crash that had claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, & the Big Bopper. Dee quickly wrote “Three Stars.” It was one of the earliest musical responses #TommyDee #OneHitWondered

Poster from Buddy Holly's doomed Winter Dance Party tour

On February 3, 1959, the music world was shattered by a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, that claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper. This tragedy later became known as ‘The Day the Music Died’. #BuddyHolly #RitchieValens #BigBopper #TommyDee #OneHitWondered

The week of April 13, 1959, KFXM, San Bernardino, CA disc jockey Tommy Dee earned US #OneHitWonder honors when his (mostly) spoken-word tribute “Three Stars” entered the US #Billboard #Top40 at #21. The single spent 8 weeks on the chart, peaking at #11. #TommyDee #OneHitWondered #MusicSky