Buddy Holly
Background
• Grew up in Lubbock, Texas
• Started playing violin, piano, and steel guitar
before giving up those for the guitar
• Heavily influenced by Elvis Presley
• Struggled playing in Nashville, couldn’t fit in
with the country music crowd
The Crickets
• Made up of Jerry Allison on drums, Joseph
Mauldin on bass, and Niki Sullivan on rhythm
guitar
• Sullivan left band in the fall of 1957
• The Crickets toured in the U.S. and England
• They would break up 1958
Hit Songs
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Oh, Boy!
Everyday
Peggy Sue
That’ll Be The Day
Rave On
Post Crickets Buddy Holly
• After break-up of the Crickets, Buddy
performed on his own
• He moved to New York City with his wife,
Maria Elena Santiago (the couple was married
August 15, 1958)
• There he stepped into the role of developing
new talent
New Opportunity
• Buddy was offered a way to make cash touring
with the Winter Dance Party
• Since he was hurting for cash, he decided to
take the opportunity
• He would tour the Midwest with artists like
Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and Dion and
the Belmonts
The Beginning of the End
• Busses for this tour were poorly heated, and
many artists got sick. Buddy’s new drummer
actually got frostbite.
• At Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly chartered a plane
for himself, Tommy Allsup, and Waylon
Jennings
• Jennings gave up his seat to the Big Bopper
who had the flu, and Allsup lost his seat to
Ritchie Valens on a coin toss.
The End
• At approximately 1:00 am on February 3,
1959, the plane took off from Iowa
• It crashed in the middle of a field and all
aboard were killed