Lubbock: Buddy Holly Park

Lubbock’s Buddy Holly Park sits at the center of the West Texas Walk of Fame along Buddy Holly Avenue, celebrating the musicians who put this flat, windswept city on the global music map. The park’s bronze Buddy Holly statue — installed in 1980 — stands alongside Walk of Fame plaques honoring Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, Waylon Jennings, Roy Orbison, and dozens of other artists with roots in the Texas Panhandle and South Plains.

The park became the annual site of the Tornado Jam, Lubbock’s outdoor music festival that brought national headliners to the High Plains each spring. The Tornado Jam of May 1, 1982 was the festival’s peak moment: Joe Ely headlined a stacked bill that included Linda Ronstadt, Leon Russell, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and the Crickets — Buddy Holly’s original band — drawing an estimated 25,000 fans. It stands as one of the largest concerts in Lubbock history and a testament to how deeply rooted rock and roll had become in the city.

The West Texas Walk of Fame continues to grow with new inductees each year. Buddy Holly Park is located near the Buddy Holly Center museum complex on 19th Street, making it a natural first stop for music fans visiting Lubbock on a Texas music pilgrimage.