Guest Author - Beth Green

Located in an isolated corn field near Clear Lake Iowa is a guitar-shaped plaque marking the site of the February 3, 1959 plane crash that killed singers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. “Big Bopper” Richardson; along with their pilot, Roger Petersen.

Holly, Valens, and Richardson were performing on the Winter Dance Party Tour that also included Dion & The Belmonts. They had played at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake on the night of February 2.

The heater on their tour bus was not working, so Holly chartered a plane to take him and his back-up singers, Tommy Allsup and Waylon Jennings, to the next stop of Moorhead Minnesota, near Fargo North Dakota. Jennings gave his seat up to Richardson, who was suffering from the flu. Tommy Allsup and Ritchie Valens flipped a coin for the last seat on the plane. Valens won the coin toss, claiming afterwards that he’d never won anything before.

When Jennings gave up his seat, he and Holly bantered with each other, as they were prone to do. Holly joked with Jennings that he hoped the bus broke down; Jennings quipped that he hoped the plane crashed; a comment that would haunt Jennings for the rest of his life.

In the snowy, early hours of February 3, as the plane was taking off from Mason City Iowa, something went wrong. According to a Civil Aeronautics Board report, the pilot, Roger Petersen, apparently became disoriented in the adverse flying conditions and had to fly solely on instrumentation. Sadly, he had not been certified on some of the instruments used on that Beechcraft Bonanza, resulting in the tragic crash.

The crash site memorial appears to be accessible year-round, weather permitting. Singer/songwriter Don McLean immortalized the day the music died in his song American Pie. Every year, near the anniversary of the crash, the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake hosts a tribute party on the first full weekend in February to honor the memories of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, three legendary performers.