On this day (February 2) in 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper took the stage for the final time. Their Winter Dance Party tour took them to the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. Just hours after they finished their respective sets, they would all perish in a plane crash in a corn field.
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The Winter Dance Party tour was a 24-day trek through the Midwest. It was a remarkably cold winter in a region known for its bitter cold. A tour bus with a faulty heater and haphazardly booked dates reportedly led the musicians to refer to it as the Tour from Hell. To emphasize how uncomfortable the bus rides could be, Holly’s drummer, Carl Bunch, didn’t play the Surf Ballroom because he had gotten frostbite on his feet while on the bus.
According to the National Parks Service, Holly conceived the tour after breaking away from his former manager, Richard Petty, left him with very little money. At the time, his popularity was steadily growing. As a result, he knew that he and his tourmates would draw sizable crowds of excited teenagers nearly anywhere.
That was true at the Surf Ballroom. Young fans dressed in their best packed the venue to hear Holly and his band perform “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore,” “Peggy Sue,” “That’ll Be the Day,” and other favorites. No one could have imagined that one of the biggest tragedies in American musical history was just hours away.
How Fate Selected the Group That Went Down with Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly chartered the plane to take him and a few others to the next tour stop. With a snowstorm moving in, it was the only way they would make it in time to get fully rested before taking the stage again. However, not everyone who was originally supposed to be on the plane took off that night.
Tommy Allsup was supposed to be on the plane. However, Ritchie Valens took his place. Valens reportedly had a fear of flying, but he decided he’d rather fly than spend another night on a bus with inadequate heat. The young rising star begged Allsup for his spot on the plane. Allsup told him no multiple times. Then, they agreed to leave the decision up to fate and tossed a coin. Valens won.
Future country music icon and Holly’s friend, Waylon Jennings, was playing bass for Holly at the time. He was supposed to be on the plane that night. However, the Big Bopper had the flu and asked Jennings for his spot on the plane because he didn’t want to battle his illness along with the bitter cold on the bus. Jennings agreed, leading to one of the most famous exchanges in music history.
When Holly heard that Jennings wasn’t joining him on the plane, he said, “Well, I hope your damned bus freezes up.” Jennings replied, “Well, I hope you ol’ plane crashes.” The exchange would haunt the Outlaw Country pioneer for years to come.
Featured Image by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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