It was 50 years ago today that rock legends Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper perished in a plane crash. A tragic event that is now referred to as the “day the music died” according to the famous lyrics in Don McLean’s song, American Pie.
Thousands of fans gathered for a week long celebration at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake Iowa to commemorate the lives of these talented musicians. This was the last place they performed on their Winter Dance Party Tour, February 2, 1959. Their plane crashed the next day in an Iowa cornfield.
Here’s a video clip from the Surf Ballroom of a re-creation of that final concert.
There’s a 60 song, 3CD set to be released shortly called the “Buddy Holly Memorial Collection”. So many hits in such a short lifetime. One can only wonder how much more brilliant rock and roll music he would have contributed, had his career not been cut so tragically short.
Tags: big bopper, buddy holly, richie valens, rock and roll, the day the music died