Charles Hardin “Buddy” Holley was born in Lubbock on 7 September 1936. In barely eighteen months of fame — “That’ll Be the Day”, “Peggy Sue”, “Not Fade Away”, “Everyday” — he and the Crickets helped define rock ’n’ roll, inspiring everyone from the Beatles to Bob Dylan. He died in a plane crash in Iowa on 3 February 1959, aged 22, and is buried in the Lubbock City Cemetery.
The Buddy Holly Center is the city’s tribute to him, housed in the handsome 1920s Fort Worth & Denver South Plains railway depot in the Depot District. It is small, well curated and genuinely moving, and it doubles as a gallery for West Texas art and music. Allow an hour, then walk across the street to the statue and the Walk of Fame.
Top things to do: Buddy Holly Center
The Buddy Holly gallery
The permanent exhibition follows Holly from Lubbock teenager to international star, with stage clothes, records, photographs, letters and the object everybody comes to see: a pair of his trademark black-rimmed glasses. The quiet, personal displays about his family and his wife María Elena are often what visitors remember most.
The J.I. Allison House
On the grounds stands the modest family home of Crickets drummer Jerry Ivan Allison, moved here and restored. The band rehearsed in Lubbock homes like this one, and it gives a real sense of how ordinary the beginnings of rock ’n’ roll were.
The giant glasses
Outside the entrance, an oversized sculpture of Holly’s horn-rimmed glasses is Lubbock’s favourite photo stop. Come early in the morning or near sunset for softer light and no queue.
Buddy Holly statue and West Texas Walk of Fame
Across the street on the Buddy and María Elena Holly Plaza, a larger-than-life bronze of Holly with his guitar stands at the centre of the West Texas Walk of Fame, whose plaques honour musicians and artists from the region — including Waylon Jennings, Mac Davis and the members of the Flatlanders.
Rotating art and music exhibitions
The center’s Fine Arts Gallery hosts changing shows of regional art and music history, and there are occasional concerts and events — check the programme when you visit.
How to get there
- Address: 1801 Crickets Avenue, in the Depot District just north of downtown Lubbock.
- By car: about 5–10 minutes from downtown hotels and 10 minutes from Texas Tech; free parking is usually easy to find nearby.
- From the airport: Lubbock Preston Smith International (LBB) is roughly 15 minutes’ drive north.
- On foot: easy to combine with the Cactus Theater, tasting rooms and restaurants of the Depot District.
Insider tips
- Opening days and hours change — the center has typically been open Tuesday to Saturday with shorter Sunday hours and closed on Mondays. Check the official site before you go.
- Admission is modest (a few dollars), with discounts for seniors, students and children. Buy tickets at the door.
- Visit around 7 September, Buddy’s birthday, when Lubbock often hosts tribute concerts and events.
- Make a pilgrimage to Holly’s grave in the Lubbock City Cemetery (east of downtown); fans leave guitar picks on the headstone.
- Stay for the evening: the Depot District around the center is Lubbock’s best area for live music and dinner.
Pair it with a tour
GetYourGuide has no bookable tours in Lubbock itself yet, so these are the best-rated experiences that fit naturally into a trip that includes Buddy Holly Center:
Walking tour from $45 Fort Worth: Stockyards History Tour Pub Crawl
Most international visitors reach the South Plains through Dallas/Fort Worth, and the Stockyards are the perfect prelude: this is where the cattle trails ended. A local historian leads you between old saloons on Exchange Avenue, mixing cattle-drive history, outlaws and cowboy culture with cold drinks — the same ranching story you will meet again at Lubbock’s National Ranching Heritage Center.
- Hidden history of the cattle drives and cowtown saloons
- Several classic Stockyards bars with an expert guide
- Top-rated by guests (4.9/5)
Small-group tour from $36 Fort Worth: Guided Tour from Dallas or Fort Worth
The best-reviewed way to see “Cowtown” without driving in DFW traffic. The tour takes you to the Fort Worth Stockyards and the Cattle Drive visitor centre, with a guide explaining how the cattle trade built the city — a good warm-up before the long drive west to Lubbock and the ranching country of the Llano Estacado.
- The historic Stockyards and the longhorn cattle drive
- Cowboy history of “Hell’s Half Acre”
- Transport from Dallas or Fort Worth included
Walking tour from $40 Santa Fe: Guided Historic Downtown Walking Tour
US-84 runs almost straight from Lubbock to Santa Fe, which makes the New Mexico capital (around five and a half hours away) the classic extension of a South Plains trip. This two-hour walk with a museum-trained docent unpacks four centuries of Pueblo, Spanish, Mexican and American history in the adobe streets around the Plaza.
- 400 years of history around the Santa Fe Plaza
- Pueblo-style adobe architecture explained
- Led by a museum-trained docent
