Clear Lake (Iowa) made canals and harbors on the northern shore of the lake. Clear Lake is also home to the historic Surf Ballroom which was where Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens made their last performance on Feb. 3, 1959 before being killed hours later in a tragic plane crash. Often Feb. 3, 1959 is referred to as "The Day the Music Died" as highlighted in the Don McLean hit "American Pie." Clear Lake (Iowa) Clear Lake is the name of a natural spring fed body of water located in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa near Clear Lake, Iowa. It is
The Big Bopper across the icy field before the mangled plane came to rest against a barbed-wire fence, while Peterson's body remained entangled in the main mass of plane wreckage. The bodies of Holly and Valens came to rest several feet away from the wreckage on open ground, while Richardson was thrown approximately 100 feet beyond the wreckage, across the fence line and into the next cornfield, wearing only a red-checked flannel shirt and light blue cotton pants. All three died instantly of massive head and chest injuries. Richardson was survived by his wife Adrienne Joy Wenner (1936-2004) and five year-old daughter Debra