May 1957 photo credit Gordon Baxter courtesy the Tyrrell Historical Library.
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Uploaded on: October 27, 2025
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May 1957 photo credit Gordon Baxter courtesy the Tyrrell Historical Library. Description credit Traces of Texas via Facebook.
“Today marks the 95th anniversary of the birth of J.P. Richardson, better known as "The Big Bopper.” J.P. was born on October 24, 1930 in Sabine Pass, Texas. This photo of The Big Bopper was taken during a smoking break at his console in the lobby of the Jefferson Theater in Beaumont during a May 1957 marathon in which he broadcast continuously for 122 hours and 8 minutes during a “Disc-a-thon.“ Crowds gathered for five days to watch The Big Bopper as he played 1,821 records; when he ended this publicity stunt, he was taken to Baptist Hospital on a stretcher, then slept for 20 straight hours. Personally, I’m surprised he didn’t sleep longer than that.
As I said, Jape (as his cohorts at KTRM called him) was born in Sabine Pass and graduated from Beaumont High School in 1947. His friend and co-worker Gordon Baxter put this photo in a 1957 Baxter family album, which is part of the Tyrrell Historical Library digital collection. The Big Bopper’s rock career skyrocketed in 1958 and he had a monster hit with “Chantilly Lace,” but, so very sadly, he died in early 1959 in the plane crash that also killed Buddy Holly and Richie Valens."
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