Just two days before his death in a plane crash in Iowa Buddy Holly and a bill of rock ‘n’ roll greats played a Winter Dance Party show in Green Bay, Wisconsin. A poster for that fateful show, the last for which a poster was printed, has just sold for $250,000.
The poster becomes the third most valuable poster concert sold, after a $275,000 poster for The Beatles Shea Stadium show, and another poster from Holly’s final tour that realised $447,000 in November 2022.
Holly’s final tour was a rushed affair, taking in 24 dates in 24 days. Long coach journeys through the freezing American mid-West made the musicians unhappy and often unwell.
The story of the crash is heavy with tragic details.
Stars Richie Valens and J.P Richardson, known as The Big Bopper, also died alongside pilot Roger Peterson. Valens won his place on the plane that Holly chartered to avoid another long drive in a coin toss. Richardson was allowed to fly in the stead of one of Holly’s band because the singer was ill.
A monument to the crash victims pictured in 2003.
This is the final poster for a Holly show that was played. The record holding Winter Dance Party poster is hand-dated to the show that Holly was heading for.
“A quarter-million dollars is such rarified air, but this poster totally deserved it,” said Heritage Director of Concert Posters Pete Howard.
The poster was the best-performing item in an auction full of standout items.
Items associated with the Grateful Dead (a poster for $93,750), The Beatles (a signed album cover for $40,000), and Prince (a copy of the Black Album for $25,000) all performed well.
Holly is a foundational figure in rock ‘n’ roll, not least in the story of the Beatles, who covered his work in their early recordings. The tragedy of his death adds poignancy and value to items from this final tour.
