Rock 'n' roll's most macabre historical artifact will go on the block when the family of the late s pop star J. The Big Bopper's gauge steel casket was exhumed last year from his original grave at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Beaumont so it could be moved to a more visible location with a life-sized statue and historic marker. The disinterment also offered forensic experts a chance - with his family's blessing - to examine the pop singer's unautopsied remains after his death in rock 'n' roll's first great tragedy.
On Feb. The accident has since been immortalized as "the day the music died. Richardson was buried a few days later in his Beaumont hometown with great fanfare, including tributes from Elvis Presley and others. Jay Richardson, the Bopper's son, plans to sell the empty casket on eBay to raise money for a musical show about his father and to keep the Bopper's memory alive. Born three months after the crash, Jay, who lives in Katy, never met his father in life - but saw him for the first time at his exhumation.
More important is what this particular metal box represents. But why would I want to destroy it? Even though it was Dad's resting place for 48 years, it's also a unique opportunity to learn more about the early years of rock 'n' roll. The exhumed casket is in surprisingly good condition after 48 years in the muddy gumbo of Southeast Texas. It bears minor rust spots and a white lime stain showing where several inches of water once leaked into the surrounding vault, but there was no evidence water had ever seeped into the casket itself.
Inside, forensic examiners found the Big Bopper's well-preserved corpse, dressed in a black suit and a blue-and-gray striped tie. He wore socks, but no shoes. Most remarkably, his thick brown hair was still perfectly coiffed in his familiar, s flat-top. After the autopsy found he died of crash-related injuries, the Big Bopper was reburied in a sleek new casket donated by the Batesville Casket Co. Since late last year, the old casket has been on public display at the Texas Musicians Museum in Hillsboro, Texas.
Click here to subscribe for full digital access to knoxnews. Displaying each slide for the audience, Bass presented his findings. Going for help after sustaining such injuries would not have been possible. And had the Bopper been shot, the ammunition would have left a lead smudge mark on his bones. But the facts pointed irrefutably to one conclusion: that, unfortunately, everyone on board died instantly.
They died on the way up, as opposed to on the way down. Sign up for a free newsletter curated specifically to the stories, photos and videos that you care about. Breaking News Knox. Biz GoKnoxville. Home News Sports Knox. Facebook Twitter Email. What Dr. Bill Bass found in bones of the Big Bopper. Hanna Lustig Shopper News. Show Caption. Hide Caption. Bill Bass on the interest over Big Bopper's death.
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