page_title: The Day the Music Died
section_title: Monuments
hierarchical_section_title: The Day the Music Died / Legacy / Memorials / Monuments
caption_attribution_description: English: Monument to en:Buddy Holly, en:Richie Valens, and J.P. Richardson (“en:The Big Bopper”). Location: Approximately 8 miles north of en:Clear Lake, Iowa Directions: US 18 to North 8th Street north in Clear Lake for 4.7 miles. When the paved road (which has turned into Grouse Avenue) turns left (west), go right (east) on gravel road (310th Street), then immediately left (north) on Gull Avenue. Follow Gull Avenue for 1/2 mile, just past the grain bins to t-intersection of a gravel road from the right and first fence row on left (west). The fence begins at the street sign for "Gull Ave." and "315th St." Walk along the fence row west for just under 1/2 mile. Directions to Crash Site: From U.S. Highway 18, go north on North 8th Street in Clear Lake for 4.7 miles. When the paved road (which has turned into Grouse Avenue) turns to your left (west), take the gravel road (310th Street) to your right (east), then immediately left (north) on Gull Avenue. Follow Gull Avenue to the north for one-half mile, just past the grain bins to the first fence row on your left (west). Walk along the fence row towards the west for just under one-half mile. A small memorial is located at the place the plane came to rest. Four trees were also planted along the fence row in 1999, one for each performer and the pilot.
context_page_description: On February 3, 1959, American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson. The event later became known as "The Day the Music Died", after singer-songwriter Don McLean referred to it as such in his 1971 song "American Pie".
  At the time, Holly and his band, consisting of Waylon Jennings, Tommy Allsup, and Carl Bunch, were playing on the "Winter Dance Party" tour across the Midwest. Rising artists Valens, Richardson, and Dion and the Belmonts had joined the tour as well. The long journeys between venues on board the cold, uncomfortable tour buses adversely affected the performers, with cases of flu and even frostbite.
  After stopping at Clear Lake to perform, and frustrated by such conditions, Holly chose to charter a plane to reach their next venue in Moorhead, Minnesota. Richardson, suffering from flu, swapped places with Jennings, taking his seat on the plane, while Allsup lost his seat to Valens on a coin toss.
context_section_description: In June 1988, a 4-foot (1.2 m) tall granite memorial bearing the names of Peterson and the three entertainers was dedicated outside the Surf Ballroom with Peterson's widow, parents, and sister in attendance; the event marked the first time that the families of Holly, Richardson, Valens, and Peterson had gathered together.
  In 1989, Ken Paquette, a Wisconsin fan of the 1950s era, made a stainless-steel monument that depicts a guitar and a set of three records bearing the names of the three performers killed in the accident. The monument is on private farmland, about ¹⁄₄ mi (400 m) west of the intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue, five miles (8 km) north of Clear Lake. At that intersection, a large plasma-cut steel set of Wayfarer-style glasses, similar to those Holly wore, marks the access point to the crash site.
  Paquette also created a similar stainless-steel monument to the three musicians located outside the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where Holly, Richardson, and Valens played their penultimate show on February 1. This second memorial was unveiled on July 17, 2003. In February 2009, a further memorial made by Paquette for Peterson was unveiled at the crash site.
caption: Memorial at crash site, 2003
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