Lubbock: the hometown of Buddy Holly

In Texas's vast plains, Lubbock gave birth to Buddy Holly and remains today the heart of Texas country and rock culture.

A car remains necessary to move around in this sprawling city.

The Buddy Holly Center, a museum dedicated to the rock legend who disappeared in the famous 1959 plane crash, displays his iconic eyeglasses.

A short walk away, the National Ranching Heritage Center reconstructs an entire historic village dedicated to the tradition of Texas ranches.

Heading toward the campus, you visit Texas Tech University, with its own Spanish-style architecture inspired by ancient colonial missions.

In the evening, the Depot District comes alive with live music venues in historic railroad buildings converted to use, the heart of the city's nightlife.

Buddy Holly, born in Lubbock in 1936, revolutionized rock and roll before dying at age 22 in a plane crash in 1959 alongside Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, an event known as 'the day the music died'.

Lubbock remains also an important Texas cotton production center, grown on the vast flat plains surrounding the city for over a century.