The Day the Music Could've Died

When putting together our editorial calendar, we always say "These are our topics for next week, unless someone gives birth or dies." We say it tongue-in-cheek, only half serious, never really expecting anyone to randomly die.

When celebrities die, it's always a seriously mind-boggling time. We don't mean to imply that celebrity deaths are more important than "regular" people deaths, and we know people die every day, but need we remind you what happened in the world after Heath Ledger's death? Or Princess Diana's? Or Marilyn Monroe's? When older celebrities die, it's less intense, because we all know we have to die someday. But when a young person dies -- like Heath Ledger or Brad Renfro -- it's always quite intense.

Imagine our sincere shock, then, when we heard the news of DJ AM and Travis Barker's serious plane crash this past Saturday. When the news first hit, it seemed extremely likely that DJ AM and/or Travis Barker might not make it. We hate to be so morbid, but the first reports were very bleak: they had suffered extreme burns and had to be airlifted to the hospital. Luckily, it's since been reported that both stars will recover, but they both suffered intense burns that will take a long time to heal. And although they survived, four other lives were lost in the crash. AM and Travis were the only survivors.

We think that the fact this tragedy occurred while AM and Travis were doing something people do every day, ride in a plane, really makes you sit back and think that it really could happen to anyone. And the more we thought, the more we realized that it had already.

On February 3, 1959, a plane crash took the lives of musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson. Holly was only 22 and Valens was 17 when they died. The date has since become known as "The Day the Music Died," and immortalized in a song by Don McLean "American Pie."

Country musician Patsy Cline also lost her life at a young age (30) to a plane crash. Because of bad weather, her plane crashed only 90 miles from its destination. According to Ellis Nassour's biography, Patsy Cline, in the months leading up to her death, Patsy told Dottie West, June Carter Cash and Loretta Lynn, all friends of hers, that she felt a sense of impending doom and didn't expect to live much longer.

(Editorial note: Anna's friend Karissa just reminded us that singer Aaliyah also died in a plane crash in 2001 at age 22.)

When you think of all the celebrities who've died in tragic accidents, it makes AM and Travis's survivial only that much more miraculous. But how did they survive a crash that killed everyone else on board?

According to Lieutenant Josh Shumpert of the South Congaree Police Department, "[Travis and AM] told me that they slid down the wing on the right side of the plane. They said they were on fire and that they tackled each other and put each other out."

Basically, quick thinking saved AM and Travis, and they are seriously lucky to be alive. We couldn't imagine any other way this could have turned out.