J.P. Richardson, Jr: The Big Bopper

Texas Standard reports that "Chantilly Lace" was recorded on August 4, 1958, at Gold Star Studios in Houston for Pappy Daily's D Records. Richardson also wrote "Running Bear" for Johnny Preston; the Port Arthur News says it spent six months on the charts and reached number one in Britain in 1960. The Winter Dance Party of 1959 moved by bus through the freezing Midwest, and Texas Standard says Waylon Jennings gave up his seat on the plane Richardson took. Don McLean's letter about "American Pie" hangs at the Museum of the Gulf Coast.

What the plaque says

J.P. Richardson, Jr: The Big Bopper Jiles Perry "J.P." Richardson, Jr. was born on October 24, 1930 to Jiles and Elsie Bernice (Stalsby) Richardson in Sabine Pass (26 mi. SE); the family moved to Beaumont when he was six. As a teenager, Richardson began writing songs with country and western influences. Following graduation from Beaumont High School in 1947, he attended Lamar College, where he sang in the choir and played in the band. He also became a disc jockey for radio station KTRM. It was there he developed his "Big Bopper" character and his musical style shifted toward rockabilly, combining country and western with rock and roll. He served two years in the Army but returned to radio work in Beaumont, and as a DJ in 1957 Richardson raised money for charity by spinning records continuously for more than 122 hours. Around the same time, Mercury Records executive Shelby Singleton signed him to a contract, and the Big Bopper went on tour along the east coast. His recording Chantilly Lace was on the top of the charts for six weeks in 1958 and earned him a gold record after being listed among the Top 100 for 25 weeks. At the age of 28, married with two children, rock and roll star J.P. Richardson joined a group of young musicians on another national tour. Tragically, on February 3, 1959, their plane crashed in Iowa, killing him and fellow artists Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. Richardson's body was returned here for burial. In addition to the 21 songs he recorded as the Big Bopper, he wrote many more, including Running Bear and White Lightnin', made popular by other singers. J.P. Richardson, Jr. is remembered for his musical talent as well as his larger-than-life persona as the Big Bopper. (2006)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• McFaddin-Ward House — 2.7 mi
  A Beaux-Arts Colonial Revival mansion finished in 1906 and lived in by one family for 75 years, with free guided tours of three furnished floors, the carriage house and gardens.
• Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum — 6.3 mi
  A re-created oil boomtown on the Lamar University campus, with a derrick, period shops, a 1941 granite monument and an optional re-enactment of the January 1901 Lucas gusher.
• Village Creek State Park — 9.4 mi
  A 2,466-acre state park on one of the few free-flowing creeks in Texas, with a launch for the Village Creek Paddling Trail, boat rentals and sandy-upland trails in the Big Thicket.
• Museum of the Gulf Coast — 20 mi
  Port Arthur's regional museum in a former bank building: fossils, Native Americans, the petroleum story, a 125-foot history mural and Halls of Fame for musicians, athletes and artists.

More markers nearby

• Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias — 0.3 mi
• Site of Collier's Ferry — 0.7 mi
• Aubrey Wilson "Moon" Mullican — 1.3 mi
• William McFaddin — 1.3 mi