Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Richie Valens Remembered This Friday! (VIDEO)

This Friday, January 25, marks the sad anniversary of the final leg of the last tour of Holly, Valens and J.P. Richardson ("The Big Bopper"). The crash that took their lives happened a week later on February 3, 1959.

The Surf Ballroom is located at 460 North Shore Avenue, Clear Lake, Iowa.  Many historic acts have played here and in fact it is now a museum to music industry pioneers.  Among the artists who have played here (and signed the walls of the backstage area where their signatures are still preserved) are Waylon Jennings, The Righteous Brothers, The Temptations, Bobby Rydell and others.

On February 2, 1959 the three entertainers left the Surf Ballroom out the back entrance immediately and headed to the airport to fly to their next gig in Morehead, Minnesota.  We all know, of course, that the plane never arrived.

The Surf Ballroom is still an active entertainment club and every year they host a "Winter Dance Party" to commemorate their place in history.  The next day there is a memorial service to pay tribute to the missing artists who played their last show here 54-years ago next weekend.