Buddy Holly Center Courtyard. The Buddy Holly Center offers free admission, as well as free trolley tours of various Holly-related sites in Lubbock, on February 3, "The Day the Music Died" (the day Holly was killed in an airplane crash along with Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson). The Center has also waived admission fees for other occasions, including for its participation in the City of Lubbock's First Friday Art Trail (on multiple occasions, including in August 2011, May 2015, and August 2015), as well as on the occasion of its 15th anniversary in September 2014. The Center has additionally hosted
The Big Bopper throttle shortly after takeoff about 5 miles outside Mason City in the middle of farm country. The reason remains unknown, but Peterson may have lost his visual reference and thought that he was ascending while he was actually descending. It is also possible that he had mechanical problems and was attempting to turn back toward Mason City. The right wingtip of the Beechcraft Bonanza sliced into the frozen ground and sent the aircraft cartwheeling across a cleared cornfield at approximately 170 mph. Holly, Valens, and Richardson were ejected from the plane on impact and probably tumbled along with the wreckage