DALLAS — The only known poster from “The Day the Music Died” became the most expensive concert poster of all time when a Winter Dance Party poster from February 3, 1959, sold for a record-setting $447,000 at Heritage Auctions’ Music Memorabilia & Concert Posters Signature® Auction on November 11-13. The poster’s final price, realized after a bidding war that ended with an auction room erupting into applause, shattered the previous record price of $275,000 held by a 1966 Beatles Shea Stadium concert poster, which sold at Heritage on April 18. The poster dates from the very day Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the “Big Bopper” J.P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, on their way to a show in Moorhead, Minn. The musicians were en route to the Moorhead Armory as part of the Winter Dance Party tour when their single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza crashed in a cornfield. This is the only known poster from the concert, which was not canceled that day despite the tragedy. Price quoted with buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 214-528-3500 or www.ha.org.
