02/03/2026
Ever notice that mural on Main Street of the marching band with a kid wearing a jester hat and wonder why? Though it may not seem like it, Clovis is a rock and roll town, in February 1957, 20-year-old Holly and his new band The Crickets drove west from Lubbock to Clovis and recorded their first single, “That'll be the Day,” at Norman Petty's studio, which reached #1 on the Billboard chart in September 1957, and “Peggy Sue,” which topped the hit list in October of '57.
Back to the mural, 67 years ago today, on February 3, 1959, American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were all killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson. The event became known as "The Day the Music Died" after singer-songwriter Don McLean referred to it as such in his 1971 song "American Pie".
