One of the identical twins who posed with Buddy Holly in a famous 1959 photo taken at the Riverside Ballroom has died.

Joan Matti passed away Aug. 14 in Rothschild, according to her obituary. She was 84.

She was Joan Bender when she and her sister, Judy Bender, traveled from their hometown of Wausau as teens to see Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson ("The Big Bopper") in Green Bay for a Feb. 1 stop on the 1959 Winter Dance Party. As vocal duo The Jayettes, the twins often performed locally with The Runabouts, a five-piece band that featured Joan’s future husband, Larry Matti, on saxophone.

Both acts had opened for Holly & The Crickets when the band played the Rothschild Pavilion on July 12, 1958. Runabouts drummer Bob Oestreich was able to get the girls backstage at the Riv

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