Surf Ballroom Surf Ballroom The Surf Ballroom (the Surf) is a Historic Rock and Roll Landmark at 460 North Shore Drive, Clear Lake, Iowa. The Surf is closely associated with the event known colloquially as "The Day the Music Died" - early rock and roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson gave their last performances at the Surf on February 2, 1959 as part of the "Winter Dance Party Tour". On September 6, 2011, The Surf Ballroom was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The original Surf Ballroom opened on 17 April 1933. It
Ritchie Valens for Dion as Dion's drummer had frostbitten feet. After the February 2, 1959, performance in Clear Lake, Iowa (which ended around midnight), Holly, Richardson, and Valens flew out of the Mason City airport in a small plane that Holly had chartered. Valens was on the plane because he won a coin toss with Holly's backup guitarist Tommy Allsup. Holly's bassist, Waylon Jennings, voluntarily gave up his seat on the plane to J.P. Richardson, who was ill with the flu. Just after 1:00 am on February 3, 1959, the three-passenger Beechcraft Bonanza departed for Fargo, North Dakota, and crashed a few