The Day the Music Died

It’s been 55 years since a single-engine plane crashed into a snow-covered Iowa field, instantly killing three men whose names would become enshrined in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. The passing decades haven’t diminished the fascination with “the day the music died”. On Feb 2, 1959, Buddy Holly, J.P. (The Big Bopper) Richardson and Ritchie Valens performed in snowy Clear Lake, Iowa and then boarded the plane for a planned three-mile flight that lasted only minutes. Check out our Buddy Holly stand-up in the library, where you will find the Clear Lake Newspaper from February 1959. Also in our collection is “The Winter Dance Party” on DVD. This is a live authentic re-creation of the final tour, captured at the same theatre in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where the original tour played. Over 29 songs are presented in the authentic and high voltage performance style that has won acclaim and legions of fans everywhere. Did you know that Waylon Jennings, Buddy Holly’s bassist and future country star, at the last minute gave up his seat to the Big Bopper who was suffering with the flu? And that Bobby Vee, then aged 15, replaced Buddy Holly at the next stop in North Dakota? His performance was a success, setting in motion a chain of events that led to Vee’s career as a popular singer.