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Surf Ballroom

Clear Lake, Iowa

The last location where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson played before their tragic deaths. 

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Surf Ballroom Chris / CC BY 2.0
Surf Ballroom Chris / CC BY 2.0
Monument at Surf Ballroom GravityIsForSuckers / CC BY-SA 4.0
Front page news on Feb 4, 1959 daisygrrl80 (Atlas Obscura User)
Kevin Costner's signature at the Surf Ballroom daisygrrl80 (Atlas Obscura User)
Surf Ballroom Joe Passe / CC BY-SA 2.0
Outside the surf ballroom maibyers (Atlas Obscura User)
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This concert venue in Clear Lake, Iowa, was the last location where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson played before their tragic deaths in a plane crash in 1959. Surf Ballroom is now turned into a museum of music greats, but it also still hosts concerts and events.

A stone memorial outside the venue pays tribute to the Holly, Valens, and Richardson. Not far from Surf Ballroom, the Day The Music Died Memorial marks the spot where the performers’ plane went down.

venues music history music memorials museums
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February 27, 2024
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Nearby
The Day The Music Died Memorial
5.87 miles
The Hobo Museum
20.97 miles
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20.98 miles
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