Winter Dance Party Tour, 1959

Buddy Holly was famous for performing with a 1954 Fender Stratocaster, though he composed most of his hits with his wartime Gibson J-45. This poster from a 1959 tour featuring Buddy Holy, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson advertises their performance in Fort Dodge, four days before the three early rock & roll stars died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. Don McLean's 1971 song "American Pie" famously refers to this tragedy as "the day the music died."