2, 1959, at the Surf Ballroom - a last-minute addition to the route. Tour buses, traveling 300-plus miles on a given night through the frozen rural Midwest, broke down often, leaving the musicians sick and frostbitten.įollowing earlier Iowa appearances in Davenport and Fort Dodge, the tour stopped Feb. Some called it the tour from hell, with routing that zig-zagged from Wisconsin to Minnesota to Iowa and back again to Minnesota. The tour, a run of Midwestern ballroom and auditorium shows booked for roughly three-and-a-half weeks, kicked off Jan. Holly, age 22, Richardson, 28, and Valens, 17, were marquee talent on the Winter Dance Party tour, each having found respective radio success with “That’ll be the Day,” “Chantilly Lace” and “La Bamba.” More: Sorry, 'American Pie,' but the music didn't die in Clear Lake. It was deemed 'the day the music died' by Don McLean in the 1971 acoustic opus “American Pie.' 3, 1959, following a Winter Dance Party tour stop at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake. “the Big Bopper” Richardson, along with pilot Roger Peterson, died Feb. One of the first tragedies to strike rock 'n’ roll took place more than 60 years ago, when a plane carrying three of the genre’s biggest stars crashed into an icy field north of Clear Lake.īuddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Watch Video: Surf Ballroom's Winter Dance Party honors Buddy Holly, celebrates rock 'n' roll

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