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In person Winter Dance Party 1959

Buddy
Holly

Buddy Holly in heavy dark-framed glasses, smiling, in a jacket and tie
Brunswick portrait, about 1957. James J. Kriegsmann for Brunswick Records · Public domain

with Ritchie Valens and J. P. Richardson Lubbock · Clovis · Clear Lake · 1936–1959

Buddy Holly and the Crickets in suits, posed together for a publicity portrait
With the Crickets, about 1957–58. Coral Records · Public domain

Last stop · The Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake, Iowa · 2 February 1959

The bill for the tour’s last night, set in wood type. His glasses come later: put them on further down, and his places come into focus.

Lubbock, Texas

Hub City.
His city.

Born7 September 1936

Charles Hardin Holley is born in Lubbock. A Texas Historical Commission marker for Buddy Holly stands at the main entrance of the Buddy Holly Center, 1801 Crickets Avenue.

Liner notes
The Buddy Holly Center, a brick former railway depot, under a blue sky
The Buddy Holly Center, Lubbock, 2022. Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Buddy Holly Center

Inside are his Fender Stratocaster, handwritten notes and tour memorabilia; giant black-framed glasses stand outside.

A huge sculpture of black horn-rimmed glasses on a plinth
The giant glasses, 2009. An Errant Knight · CC BY-SA 4.0
A sunburst Fender Stratocaster guitar in a display case
His Stratocaster, 2008. John W. Schulze · CC BY 2.0

1801 Crickets Avenue, in the Depot District. The giant glasses stand outside; check the city’s museum page for opening hours and admission before you go.

City of Lubbock

The Buddy Holly Center

1801 Crickets Avenue, Lubbock · Check hours and admission before you go

The museum in the old depot: his Stratocaster, his notes, the glasses from the last flight, and the J. I. Allison House on the grounds.

Plan a visit
A small white wood-frame house with a porch
The J. I. Allison House, 2022. Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0

31 May 1956 · The Searchers

The J. I. Allison House

On 31 May 1956 Holly, Allison and Sonny Curtis saw John Ford’s The Searchers at the State Theater in Lubbock; John Wayne’s catchphrase in it became the song’s title.

Buddy Holly and Jerry Allison wrote “That’ll Be the Day” in this house, and the band formed and practised here. Civic Lubbock paid for the house to be moved onto the Buddy Holly Center’s property.

Holly’s own childhood home did not survive: it ended up on a hog farm and was destroyed by fire.

Liner notes
A bronze statue of Buddy Holly playing guitar, seen from below at dusk
The statue in the Buddy and Maria Elena Holly Plaza, 2014. Carol M. Highsmith · Public domain

1979 · 19th Street and Crickets Avenue

The statue and the Walk of Fame

The West Texas Walk of Fame is at 19th Street and Crickets Avenue, in the Buddy and Maria Elena Holly Plaza, across from the Buddy Holly Center. Grant Speed sculpted the statue; it was completed and dedicated in 1979, and Holly was the Walk of Fame’s first honoree.

An open-air plaza across from the Buddy Holly Center: free.

Liner notes

Through the frames

Slide the frames
until it comes sharp.

His optometrist, Dr J. Davis Armistead, chose the heavy plastic frames, made in Mexico City. In 1998 Maria Elena Holly sold the glasses he wore on the last flight to Civic Lubbock, the non-profit behind the centre; they are on permanent display. Nine places, in the order of his life. Drag the glasses across the blurred photograph, or use the slider; when both lenses sit over the amber mark, the place comes into focus.

Why the glasses
The bell tower and front of Lubbock High School

Out of focus. Move the frames right.

2004 19th Street, Lubbock · Early 1950s

Lubbock High School

He sings in the Lubbock High School choir.

Holly went to Lubbock High School in the early 1950s and sang in the school choir.

In 1953 a choir friend, George Nelson, beat him in a songwriting contest.

A working school: see it from 19th Street.

Lubbock High School, 2022. Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0

Liner notes

“That’ll Be the Day”

Nineteen takes
and two.

Nashville · Decca

Nashville, 22 July 1956. Tape is ready.

Clovis · Norman Petty

Clovis, February 1957. A freezing night; tape is ready.

The low front of the Norman Petty Recording Studio on a quiet street
The Norman Petty Recording Studio, Clovis, 2017. Greg Gjerdingen · CC BY 2.0

The Norman Petty Studio, Clovis

Norman Petty finished the studio on West 7th Street in 1956; Holly and the Crickets recorded most of his songs here, among them “That’ll Be the Day” and “Peggy Sue”.

After Petty died in 1984, his wife Vi kept the studio as it was, with the original equipment and instruments in place. On a tour you can sit in Petty’s console chair, where Holly listened to the playbacks of “Peggy Sue”.

An old valve-era mixing desk with round dials
A Petty studio mixing desk, shown at the Buddy Holly Center, 2008. John W. Schulze · CC BY 2.0

Small-group tours by appointment only: call 575-356-6422.

Liner notes
Norman Petty Studios

Norman Petty Studio tour

Clovis, New Mexico · By appointment · 575-356-6422

Small groups, by appointment, through the studio where the Crickets cut “That’ll Be the Day”, with its original equipment.

Ask for a tour

Cerro Gordo County courthouse

Filed away
for 21 years.

CHARLES HARDIN HOLLEY
REC’D APRIL 7, 1959

A coroner’s envelope, sealed since the spring of 1959.

February 1980. A coroner’s envelope marked received 7 April 1959 is opened in Mason City; inside are Holly’s glasses.

In 1998 Maria Elena Holly sold the glasses he wore on the last flight to Civic Lubbock, the non-profit behind the centre; they are on permanent display.

Liner notes

Clear Lake, Iowa

One more dance
at the Surf.

Carl J. Fox opened the first Surf Ballroom, across the street, on 17 April 1933; fire destroyed it on 20 April 1947. The rebuilt ballroom opened on 1 July 1948.

The Surf Ballroom’s long low front and sign
The Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake, 2015. Joe Passe · CC BY-SA 2.0
Buddy Holly and Waylon Jennings side by side in a photo-booth picture
Waylon Jennings and Buddy Holly in a photo booth, 23 January 1959, the day the Winter Dance Party tour began. Unknown photographer · Public domain

Waylon Jennings and Buddy HollyPhoto booth · 23 January 1959

Dance card · Surf Ballroom

  1. 2 February 1959Winter Dance PartyHolly · Valens · Richardson
  2. 7 November 2026, 8pmGreat White
  3. 27 November 2026, 8pmThe Pork Tornadoes
  4. 3–6 February 2027Winter Dance Party 2027

No dances pencilled in yet.

The Winter Dance Party tour made its last stop here on 2 February 1959, with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. Richardson. The first Winter Dance Party tribute was held here in 1979; the ballroom became a National Historic Landmark on 13 January 2021.

Self-guided tours Monday to Saturday, 10am–5pm: the stage, green room, dressing rooms and museum. Tickets from the box office in the building next door.

Liner notes
Wyndham Hotels

AmericInn by Wyndham Clear Lake

Clear Lake, Iowa

Off I-35 near US Route 18, a short drive from the Surf Ballroom and the lake. A practical base for the Winter Dance Party. Pictured: the Surf Ballroom.

Check rooms
A steel guitar and three steel records at the fence line of a field, with flowers
The memorial where the plane came to rest, 2024. Travellers & Tinkers · CC BY-SA 4.0

3 February 1959

At the fence line.

The plane left Mason City Municipal Airport around 1am on 3 February 1959 and crashed a few minutes later, killing all four men.

Where the plane came to rest, Ken Paquette’s stainless-steel guitar and three stainless-steel records stand, with a second monument to the pilot, Roger Peterson. A large pair of black-rimmed glasses marks the trailhead on Gull Avenue.

Free, all year. Park at the Don McLean Parking Area, then walk about half a mile west along the fence line. The field is private property: be respectful.

Liner notes
A small memorial at the edge of a cornfield
The same memorial in 2003. Dennis Fernkes · Public domain

Back to Lubbock

A guitar on a stone.
A star on Vine Street.

A flat granite grave marker carved with a guitar, with picks and tokens left on it
His grave, City of Lubbock Cemetery, 2016. mhamilton456 · CC BY 4.0

City of Lubbock Cemetery

The cemetery began in March 1892, on five acres of pasture given by the rancher H. M. Bandy. It holds more than 60,000 graves; Buddy Holly is among those buried here.

2011 East 31st Street. The historical marker is by the entrance on East 31st Street, east of Teak Avenue.

Liner notes
The bell tower and front of Lubbock High School
Lubbock High School, 2022. Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0

Lubbock High School

Holly went to Lubbock High School in the early 1950s and sang in the school choir. In 1953 a choir friend, George Nelson, beat him in a songwriting contest.

A working school: see it from 19th Street.

Liner notes
A terrazzo Walk of Fame star with a record emblem and the name Buddy Holly
His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, 2012. Dietmar Rabich · CC BY-SA 4.0

The star, Hollywood

Los Angeles placed his name in the Walk of Fame at 1750 Vine Street, for a ceremony on 7 September 2011. It was the Walk of Fame’s 2,447th star, on what would have been his 75th birthday; Maria Elena Holly, Gary Busey and Phil Everly were there.

Set in the pavement at 1750 Vine Street: free.

Liner notes

Frames off. Every place, and how to get there.

Where it is now

8 places you can visit, and Lubbock High School, which you can see from the street. Lubbock is a weekend; Clovis is about 100 miles west; Clear Lake is its own trip.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. 1801 Crickets Avenue, in the Depot District. The giant glasses stand outside; check the city’s museum page for opening hours and admission before you go.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. On the Buddy Holly Center’s grounds, part of a visit to the museum.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. An open-air plaza across from the Buddy Holly Center: free.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. 2011 East 31st Street. The historical marker is by the entrance on East 31st Street, east of Teak Avenue.

  • General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working school: see it from 19th Street.

  1. The Buddy Holly Center, a brick former railway depot, under a blue sky
    The Buddy Holly Center, Lubbock, 2022. Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0

    1801 Crickets Avenue, Lubbock, Texas

    The Buddy Holly Center

    A Texas Historical Commission marker for Buddy Holly stands at the main entrance of the Buddy Holly Center, 1801 Crickets Avenue.

    1801 Crickets Avenue, in the Depot District. The giant glasses stand outside; check the city’s museum page for opening hours and admission before you go.

    Liner notes
  2. A small white wood-frame house with a porch
    The J. I. Allison House, moved to the Buddy Holly Center grounds, 2022. Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Buddy Holly Center grounds, Lubbock

    The J. I. Allison House

    Buddy Holly and Jerry Allison wrote “That’ll Be the Day” in this house, and the band formed and practised here.

    On the Buddy Holly Center’s grounds, part of a visit to the museum.

    Liner notes
  3. A bronze statue of Buddy Holly playing guitar, seen from below at dusk
    The Buddy Holly statue in the Buddy and Maria Elena Holly Plaza, Lubbock, 2014. Carol M. Highsmith · Public domain

    19th Street and Crickets Avenue, Lubbock

    The statue and the West Texas Walk of Fame

    The West Texas Walk of Fame is at 19th Street and Crickets Avenue, in the Buddy and Maria Elena Holly Plaza, across from the Buddy Holly Center.

    An open-air plaza across from the Buddy Holly Center: free.

    Liner notes
  4. A flat granite grave marker carved with a guitar, with picks and tokens left on it
    Buddy Holly’s grave, City of Lubbock Cemetery, 2016. mhamilton456 · CC BY 4.0

    2011 East 31st Street, Lubbock

    City of Lubbock Cemetery

    The cemetery began in March 1892, on five acres of pasture given by the rancher H. M. Bandy.

    2011 East 31st Street. The historical marker is by the entrance on East 31st Street, east of Teak Avenue.

    Liner notes
  5. The bell tower and front of Lubbock High School
    Lubbock High School, 2022. Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0

    2004 19th Street, Lubbock

    Lubbock High School

    Holly went to Lubbock High School in the early 1950s and sang in the school choir.

    A working school: see it from 19th Street.

    Liner notes

Stay

A room near the music.

Downtown Lubbock for the centre and the plaza; Clear Lake for the ballroom.

Cotton Court Hotel

Cotton Court Hotel

Downtown Lubbock

A downtown Lubbock hotel built around the city’s music and cotton history, with a pool courtyard, porches and live music at weekends. Near the Depot District. Pictured: the Holly statue.

Check rooms
Wyndham Hotels

AmericInn by Wyndham Clear Lake

Clear Lake, Iowa

Off I-35 near US Route 18, a short drive from the Surf Ballroom and the lake. A practical base for the Winter Dance Party. Pictured: the Surf Ballroom.

Check rooms

Go there

Walk in.

The centre in Lubbock, the studio in Clovis by appointment, the Surf any day but Sunday.

City of Lubbock

The Buddy Holly Center

1801 Crickets Avenue, Lubbock · Check hours and admission before you go

The museum in the old depot: his Stratocaster, his notes, the glasses from the last flight, and the J. I. Allison House on the grounds.

Plan a visit
Norman Petty Studios

Norman Petty Studio tour

Clovis, New Mexico · By appointment · 575-356-6422

Small groups, by appointment, through the studio where the Crickets cut “That’ll Be the Day”, with its original equipment.

Ask for a tour
Surf Ballroom

Surf Ballroom tours

Clear Lake, Iowa · Mon–Sat 10am–5pm · groups $19.59 each

Self-guided: the stage, the green room, the dressing rooms and the museum. Guided tours for groups of ten or more on weekdays.

Plan a visit
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Lubbock tours

Lubbock

Live marketplace results for Lubbock tours and things to do. Check each itinerary.

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What’s on

Back on the floor.

The Surf still books dances, and the Winter Dance Party returns in February 2027.

Checking current event dates…

Take it home

Books and records.

Two biographies, and his first records on Brunswick and Coral. No original posters for him in our store.

Bookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate

Rave On: The Biography of Buddy Holly

Philip Norman

Lubbock, Clovis, New York and the last tour.

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Buddy Holly: A Biography

Ellis Amburn

A full life, from Lubbock to Clear Lake.

Find the book
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The “Chirping” Crickets

The Crickets · LP, Brunswick, 1957

The Crickets’ 1957 LP for Brunswick.

Live marketplace search · listings and condition change

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Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly · LP, Coral, 1958

His 1958 solo LP for Coral.

Live marketplace search · listings and condition change

Find a copy

Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

The liner notes

Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

9 of 9 places · 13 of 13 Moments

  • The Buddy Holly Center

    1801 Crickets Avenue, Lubbock, Texas

    • Born

      Charles Hardin Holley is born in Lubbock.

    • The envelope

      A coroner’s envelope marked received 7 April 1959 is opened in Mason City; inside are Holly’s glasses.

  • The J. I. Allison House

    Buddy Holly Center grounds, Lubbock

    • The Searchers

      A John Wayne line in a Western gives Holly and Allison a song title.

  • The statue and the West Texas Walk of Fame

    19th Street and Crickets Avenue, Lubbock

    • The statue

      Lubbock dedicates Grant Speed’s statue; Holly is the first name on the Walk of Fame.

  • City of Lubbock Cemetery

    2011 East 31st Street, Lubbock

    • Home

      Buddy Holly, dead at 22, is buried in the City of Lubbock Cemetery.

  • Lubbock High School

    2004 19th Street, Lubbock

    • The choir

      He sings in the Lubbock High School choir.

  • The Norman Petty Studio

    1313 West 7th Street, Clovis, New Mexico

    • Two takes

      “That’ll Be the Day” is recorded in Clovis in two takes.

    • Number one

      “That’ll Be the Day” reaches number one on Billboard’s popular music chart.

  • The Surf Ballroom

    North Shore Drive, Clear Lake, Iowa

    • The last show

      The Winter Dance Party makes its last stop at the Surf Ballroom.

    • The tribute

      The first Winter Dance Party tribute is held at the Surf.

    • Landmark

      The Surf Ballroom becomes a National Historic Landmark.

  • The Three Stars Memorial

    Gull Avenue and 315th Street, north of Clear Lake, Iowa

    • The flight

      The chartered plane crashes minutes after leaving Mason City.

  • His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

    1750 Vine Street, Los Angeles

    • The star

      His star is set into Vine Street on his 75th birthday.

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