The Last Tour of Buddy Holly, the 'Big Bopper' and Ritchie Valens. The tragic deaths of these three fifties Rock n Roll stars was immortalised in Don McLean's classic hit American Pie. The poignant story of the build-up to, events of, and the fall-out from the infamous 'Day The Music Died' are told here in painstaking chronological detail. A must for any serious rock n roll fan or student.

In 1950s Iowa, a murder-suicide forces a lawyer to put aside his rock-and-roll grief Sam McCain loves Buddy Holly because he’s the only rock-and-roll star who still seems like a dweeb, and Sam knows how that feels. With the unrequited love of his life at his side, Sam drives more than three hours through the snow to watch his idol play the Surf Ballroom. That night, Buddy Holly dies in the most famous plane crash in music history, but Sam has no time to grieve. Because there are too many lawyers in this small town, Sam makes a living as a PI, doing odd jobs for an eccentric judge—whose nephew, it seems, has a problem only a detective could solve. His trophy wife has been murdered, and as soon as Sam arrives, the nephew kills himself, too. The police see this as a clear-cut murder-suicide, but Sam wants to know more, diving into a mystery that will get dangerous faster than you can say “bye-bye, Miss American Pie.”

Their lives were cut brutally short...yet the legacy has on lived on for four decades. They were three of rock 'n' roll's brightest stars, touring together in a music revue that was as grueling as it was magical. Dilapidated school buses that frequently broke down and rarely had heat carried them hundreds of miles across the Midwest with its unforgiving cold. Hoping to get a decent night's sleep, a hot meal, and a chance to clean the clothes they'd been wearing for weeks, Buddy Holly chartered a plane. On February 3, 1959, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper, and Buddy Holly boarded a small plane bound for rock 'n' roll heaven. This is their story, told by the family members, bandmates, and witnesses who lived it. Including material not seen in the original VH1 broadcast, Behind the Music: the Day the Music Died is a compelling record of one of rock 'n' roll's defining moments.

The Bard meets the Backstreet Boys in Pop Sonnets, a collection of 100 classic pop songs reimagined as Shakespearean sonnets. All your favorite songs are here, including hits by Jay-Z, Johnny Cash, Katy Perry, Michael Jackson, Talking Heads, and many others. With stirring sentiments on everything from love and despair to wanton women, Pop Sonnets offers inspirational verse for every occasion.

At once a groundbreaking cultural history of rock music and an impassioned defense of the unique value of art, The Day Alternative Music Died is a timely and essential addition to the cultural discourse. Featuring a meticulously researched and eminently readable narrative that will appeal to both casual and diehard music fans, The Day Alternative Music Died tells the fascinating story of the tensions between artistic and commercial aspirations throughout the history of rock music. Author Adam Caress grafts the vital and untold story of the rise and fall of the alternative music scene in the 1980s and 90s into a larger rock music narrative that spans half a century, shedding light on a number of crucial developments in rock and popular music which remain widely misunderstood, even as they continue to have far-reaching implications for the future of music creation, consumption, and criticism. With a scope that encompasses everything from Bob Dylan's arrival on the rock scene in the mid-1960s through Spotify's recent attempts to establish a new model for music distribution, The Day Alternative Music Died provides engaging and valuable insight into what it means to be a music fan, artist, and critic here in the 21st Century.

Waylon Jennings relates the story of his life as a country music star. His beginnings were poor but he became Buddy Holly's protege before sinking into drug abuse and 3 failed marriages. His success came when he met his present wife, Jessi Colter.