Buddy Holly
Clear Lake, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
Marker Inscription
Buddy Holly's last performance was here at the Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake. Buddy Holly was killed in a plane crash north of Clear Lake February 3, 1959 He was 21.
Erected by KZEV Radio
The Story
The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, hosted Buddy Holly's final concert before the young rock-and-roll pioneer boarded a small plane that crashed nearby in the early hours of February 3, 1959. Holly was just 21; the disaster, which also killed Ritchie Valens and J.P. 'The Big Bopper' Richardson, became mourned as 'the Day the Music Died.'
Why it matters
Buddy Holly helped invent rock and roll, and this ballroom marks the sudden end of his brief, enormously influential career — a loss that reverberated through American popular music for generations.
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Related people
- · Buddy Holly
Related events
- · Buddy Holly's last performance, 1959
- · Clear Lake plane crash, February 3, 1959
Themes & tags
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