Famed Crickets home opens to mark Buddy Holly's 77th birthday
A house which played a part in rock-and-roll history is now open to the public.
On Friday, the childhood residence of Crickets drummer J.I. Allison was unveiled at the Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock, Texas.
The home had undergone a year of renovations before it was relocated to the center and was unveiled just in time to mark what would have been Holly's77th birthday on Saturday.
Known for hits like 1957's "That'll Be The Day," Buddy Holly and The Crickets have long been considered rock music pioneers who helped pave the way for future acts like The Beatles.
The newly-restored house was the place where Holly and Allison wrote "That'll Be The Day."
As Alison revealed at a recent press conference, the inspiration for their break-out hit came after the two rockers had returned from seeing a John Wayne film at a local theater.
"[Wayne] said about five times during the movie, 'That'll be the day,'" Alison explained, "So Buddy and I were sitting there practicing, and he said, 'We ought to write a song.' And I said, 'That'll be the day.'"
Allison pointed out that the home was also the location where the Crickets received the tragic news that Holly had died in a plane crash on Feb. 3, 1959, in Grant Township, Iowa.
"That's part of this house's history, it's a sad history," Allison said.
CBS affiliate KLBK was granted access to the house before its official unveiling on Friday. Watch video above for a look inside the historic residence.
