Music fans are remembering the death of Buddy Holly, who died 50 years ago today (February 3rd) in a plane crash.

Ritchie Valens and JP 'The Big Bopper' Richardson were also killed when the plane they were travelling in came down in bad weather in Iowa.

The tragedy was poignantly described by Don McLean in his 1971 song 'American Pie' as “the day the music died”.

A concert will be held today in the town of Des Moines, which is 110 miles from the crash site.

Holly, 22, was born in 1936 and was widely regarded as a pioneer for rock and roll music.

In 1998, Bob Dylan recalled seeing Holly perform two days before his death in 1958 during his acceptance speech at the Grammy Awards.

Dylan, who collecting a prize for his 1997 album 'Time Out Of Mind', said: "And I just want to say that when I was sixteen or seventeen years old, I went to see Buddy Holly play at Duluth National Guard Armory and I was three feet away from him...and he looked at me.

“And I just have some sort of feeling that he was — I don't know how or why — but I know he was with us all the time we were making this record in some kind of way."

(by Jason Gregory)