Bopper & Me – Sign The OFFICIAL Petition To Get THE BIG BOPPER Inducted Into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame

Legendary Rock Interviews is excited to bring you news of a new documentary, ‘Bopper & Me’ from Capture Films and John Cumberland. ‘Bopper & Me’ tells the story about John Cumberland’s petition drive to get The Big Bopper inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. The film follows John Cumberland, a scrap man from England who has dedicated his life to get his hero, The Big Bopper inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Here is the documentary trailer:

John hooked up with Minnesota’s The Holy Rocka Rollaz to record the anthemic theme at legendary Sugar Hill Studios in Houston Texas. The Big Bopper had recorded ‘Chantilly Lace’ in the very same building back in 1958. The song was a poem Mr. Cumberland wrote that the Holy Rocka Rollaz wrote music for. Enjoy!

Most people know The Big Bopper (J P Richardson) as the writer and singer of ‘Chantilly Lace’. Tragically, he died on February 3rd 1959 in a plane crash alongside Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens after a show at The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa on February 2nd 1959. The show was part of the horribly organized and routed Winter Dance Party Tour that criss-crossed the Midwest that winter. The tour also featured Frankie Sardo and Dion & The Belmonts.

In a strange twist of events, Buddy Holly’s bandmates Tommy Allsup and Waylon Jennings gave up their seats on the plane so Ritchie Valens & The Big Bopper could travel ahead to Fargo toget rest & laundry done. Waylon gave The Big Bopper his seat while Allsup and Valens flipped a coin for the last seat on the doomed flight. Legendary DJ and WGN TV personality Bob Hale was the MC for the Winter Dance Party concert at The Surf Ballroom & witnessed the coin flip. The day is forever remembered as ‘The Day The Music Died‘.

There is so much more to this man than people know, for example, he wrote ‘White Lightnin‘, a number one hit for George Jones and the song that launched Jones’ career. He also wrote ‘Running Bear‘, a number one hit for Johnny Preston.

He invented the music video, making the first one in 1958. He predicted the advent of music television in 1959 and was working toward building a studio to make music videos until his untimely death. He also holds the world record for continuous radio broadcasting, 5 days, 2 hours and 8 minutes. He was a true innovator at his craft and deserves a place amongst the greats of the music world in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Buddy Holly was enshrined in 1986 followed by Ritchie Valens in 2001. A fifteen year gap. The earliest The Big Bopper could be enshrined is in 2018, a gap of seventeen years between Mr. Valens and Mr. Richardson. In my opinion, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper should have been inducted together as they last performed together then tragically perished together.

Let’s right this injustice against Rock & Roll and get The Big Bopper the long overdue recognition he deserves for being a legendary songwriter, performer & visionary in the music industry!

Please sign this petition today and help us finally get recognition for this seemingly forgotten icon, JP Richardson aka THE BIG BOPPER!!!

Tags: Bob Hale, Bopper & Me, buddy holly, Capture Films, Clear Lake, Cleveland, DJ, Documentary, Facebook, full-image, Houston, Iowa, john cumberland, JP Richardson, MC, Minnesota, ohio, Ritchie Valens, RNRHOF, Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, Save The Rock Hall, Sugar Hill Studios, Texas, The Big Bopper, The Holy Rocka Rollaz, The Surf Ballroom, Tommy Allsup, Vimeo, waylon jennings, WGN, YouTube

Category: Opinions/Editorials