BUDDY HOLLY's widow still blames herself for the rocker's untimely death - because she is convinced she could have stopped him from boarding the plane which ultimately crashed and took his life. The singer was only 22-years-old when the small aircraft he was travelling on crashed shortly after taking off in Iowa.

The accident killed the rocker and his tourmates Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper on 3 February 1959, a date Don MCLean later immortalised as The Day The Music Died in his 1971 hit American Pie.

Holly's wife Maria Elena was due to travel with the rocker on that fated tour but the star was adamant his pregnant bride should remain at home.

And his widow is still haunted by her decision to stay put, believing she could have kept her husband from riding on the tiny jet.

She tells AOL, "I remember distinctly that I already had my suitcases done and I had them at the door and he said, 'No, honey, I don't want you to go. Take care of my baby and I'll be back in two weeks. So don't worry, I'll call you every night.'

"I still blame myself. If I had insisted on going and said, 'No, I'm going,' I'm sure... Actually, this is the only regret that I have about what happened to him. I still remember constantly and I say, I wonder, if I had (gone), if he would still be (here) because I would not have let him get on that small plane. I didn't know he did that, absolutely not... I still sometimes get upset."