{"id":320304,"date":"2026-02-04T19:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T19:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/320304\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T19:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T19:16:10","slug":"don-mclean-to-be-honored-with-bronze-statue-at-surf-ballroom-in-clear-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/320304\/","title":{"rendered":"Don McLean To Be Honored With Bronze Statue At Surf Ballroom In Clear Lake"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Don McLean will be honored with a life-size bronze statue at the Surf Ballroom & Museum in Clear Lake, Iowa in 2027. The Surf Ballroom, a National Historic Landmark where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. \u201cThe Big Bopper\u201d Richardson performed on February 2, 1959 as part of the Winter Dance Party tour, announced the tribute as \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d turns 55 years old. The statue will stand as a permanent tribute to the songwriter whose work helped carry the story of that night into global cultural memory. The announcement comes on February 3, the anniversary of the 1959 plane crash that claimed the lives of Holly, Valens and Richardson.<\/p>\n

The new statue is inspired by an existing life-size bronze portrait created by acclaimed sculptor Zenos Frudakis. Originally completed in 1989, the portrait was featured on the cover of McLean\u2019s album \u2018Classics\u2019. Frudakis, a lifelong friend of McLean, is known for his statues of Muhammad Ali, Nina Simone, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He is creating an entirely new statue for public display at the Surf, adding a new landmark for visitors to the historic ballroom and its adjacent museum experiences.<\/p>\n

Rick French, chairman of The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation and a national trustee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, said \u201cThe Buddy Holly Educational Foundation is thrilled that one of our most iconic ambassadors is being honored with a statue at The Surf Ballroom, the site of Buddy Holly\u2019s final performance. While American Pie was famously inspired by the plane crash that claimed the lives of Buddy, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson on February 3, 1959, it has stood for more than half a century as an anthem to the cultural shifts of our country and is as relevant today as it has ever been.\u201d Peter Bradley Jr., vice chairman of The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation, is working closely with McLean, his management team and Jeff Nichols at the Surf Ballroom to plan the unveiling. Bradley noted that \u201cto this day Don remains one of Maria Elena Holly\u2019s closest friends and she was overjoyed to learn a statue is being cast in his honor.\u201d The Surf Ballroom first opened in 1933 and was rebuilt in 1948 after a fire. McLean is currently on tour with dates running through August. <\/p>\n

Don McLean Tour Dates:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fri, Feb 06 \u2013 Lobero Theatre \u2013 Santa Barbara, Calif.<\/p>\n

Sat, Feb 07 \u2013 Saban Theatre \u2013 Beverly Hills, Calif.<\/p>\n

Fri, Mar 20 \u2013 Seminole Casino Hotel Immokalee \u2013 Immokalee, Fla.<\/p>\n

Sat, Mar 21 \u2013 Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts \u2013 Melbourne, Fla.<\/p>\n

Sun, Mar 22 \u2013 Savannah Center \u2013 The Villages, Fla.<\/p>\n

Mon, Mar 23 \u2013 Nancy and David Bilheimer Capitol Theatre \u2013 Clearwater, Fla.<\/p>\n

Sat, May 16 \u2013 Honeywell Center \u2013 Wabash, Ind.<\/p>\n

Fri, May 22 \u2013 Edmond Town Hall \u2013 Newton, Ct.<\/p>\n

Thu, May 28 \u2013 Riviera Theatre \u2013 North Tonawanda, N.Y.<\/p>\n

Fri, May 29 \u2013 Caesars Circus Maximus Theater \u2013 Atlantic City, N.J.<\/p>\n

Sat, Jun 06 \u2013 Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino \u2013 Las Vegas, Nev.<\/p>\n

Sat, Aug 01 \u2013 Murphy Theatre \u2013 Wilmington, Ohio<\/p>\n

Sat, Aug 22 \u2013 Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center \u2013 Indianapolis, Ind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Don McLean will be honored with a life-size bronze statue at the Surf Ballroom & Museum in Clear…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320305,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[154829,154830,154831,154832,154833,18,117,154834,19,17,154835,154836,154837,154838,154839,327,154840,154841,154842,154843,154844,154845,154846,154847,44480,154848,154849,154850,154851,154852,154853,154854,154855],"class_list":{"0":"post-320304","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-buddy-holly","9":"tag-caesars-circus-maximus-theater","10":"tag-don-mclean","11":"tag-dwight-d-eisenhower","12":"tag-edmond-town-hall","13":"tag-eire","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-honeywell-center","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-j-p-richardson","19":"tag-jeff-nichols","20":"tag-lobero-theatre","21":"tag-maria-elena-holly","22":"tag-maxwell-c-king-center-for-the-performing-arts","23":"tag-movies","24":"tag-muhammad-ali","25":"tag-murphy-theatre","26":"tag-nancy-and-david-bilheimer-capitol-theatre","27":"tag-nina-simone","28":"tag-peter-bradley-jr","29":"tag-rick-french","30":"tag-ritchie-valens","31":"tag-riviera-theatre","32":"tag-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame","33":"tag-saban-theatre","34":"tag-savannah-center","35":"tag-seminole-casino-hotel-immokalee","36":"tag-surf-ballroom-museum","37":"tag-the-big-bopper","38":"tag-the-buddy-holly-educational-foundation","39":"tag-westgate-las-vegas-resort-casino","40":"tag-zenos-frudakis"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}