Buddy Holly Grave

Lubbock, Texas

The Day The Music Died

50th Anniversary

February 3, 1959 - February 3, 2009

It has been 50 years since the crash of a small plane in an Iowa cornfield took the lives of Buddy Holly and his fellow singers Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson. So shocking was the sudden loss of these three young musicians that February 3, 1959 became known as The Day The Music Died. Yes, gone were three performers and the promise of the music they would have gone on to create; also, in some profound way, gone was our country's innocence. But the music they did record will live forever. That'll Be The Day ... Maybe Baby ... Peggy Sue ... Oh, Boy! ... True Love Ways ... La Bamba ... Chantilly Lace ... though they were recorded before I was born, I will remember these melodies and the joy they have brought me until the day when I die.

Buddy Holly was buried in his home town of Lubbock, Texas; these photos were taken when I visited the grave site on December 21, 1980. The simple stone marker is engraved with images of musical notes, holly leaves and Buddy's Stratocaster guitar, and bears this inscription (his last name is spelled "Holley" on the marker because that is how the family name is spelled):

Directions: Lubbock City Cemetery is on the eastern edge of Lubbock. To find the grave, take the road north from the building at the cemetery entrance for about a hundred yards; the grave is a few feet off the right side of the road.

Last visited: December 1980.

Standard disclaimer: Sites are described for entertainment purposes only, as they were at the time of my last visit. I can not vouch for the current condition of the site or its accessibility.