Since Buddy Holly made the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, famous, the long-lived music spot is honoring the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer once again.
“Not Fade Away: The Immersive Surf Ballroom Experience” will open on Sept. 7, which would have been Holly’s 88th birthday. He and other early rock stars Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson died in a plane crash on Feb. 3, 1959, after performing at the Surf — an incident famously known as “The Day the Music Died.”
The “immersive” exhibit will include Holly’s microphone from that night, Valens’ hand-tooled leather wallet and Richardson’s briefcase recovered from the crash, as well as memorabilia from guitar innovator Les Paul, Willie Nelson, B.B. King, Lawrence Welk, Slash and others.
Standard admission to “Not Fade Away” is $27, with VIP admission to a Sept. 4 opening event for $107.52.
Since 1933, the Surf — two hours straight south of the Twin Cities on Interstate 35 — has presented all kinds of touring musicians, including this month Robert Cray (Aug. 15), Umphrey’s McGee (Aug. 22) and Marty Stuart (Aug. 28).
The Buddy Holly Crash Site, 6 miles north of Clear Lake, is the site of a makeshift memorial to the singers.
Surf Ballroom & Museum, 460 North Shore Drive, Clear Lake, Iowa, surfballroom.com.
