It's been said that Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens were close friends of Eddie Cochrane who was first to record "Three Stars" (Tommy Dee) on February 5, 1959 but it wasn't released until years after his death. Eddie died in a tragic traffic accident survived by Gene Vincent a year later.

California radio personality Tommy Dee (Donaldson) with Carol Kay and the Teen-Aires recorded "Three Stars" in 1959 shortly after the plane crash. This peaked at number eleven on Billboard.