Buddy Holly Biography
Plus videos, tutorials song lyrics and more!

I'm glad you've clicked over to view this Buddy Holly Biography page. I'd like to give you some background on this great artist and showcase some of his early videos as well as a few Buddy Holly tutorials, lyrics and video.

Buddy Holly was only 22 when he died on Feb 3, 1959 in a plane crash with Richie Valens and The Big Bopper. Richie Valens, well known for his hit La Bamba, was only 17. And The Big Bopper, aka Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr. (JD) was 28, a well known DJ and also had a big hit called Chantilly Lace in 1958.

He also wrote all of his own material and has been credited with setting the sound for the typical R and R with two guitars, bass and drums. Many great bands including The Stones, The Beatles and The Beach Boys have all credited Buddy Holly for influencing their sound.

Born in Lubbock Texas, he attended Junior and Senior High Schools there and both institutions have paid honor to Buddy's name and accomplishments as an artist.

Very early on he performed in a local talent show at age 5, winning $5 for his performance. A tidbit about the Buddy Holly Biography story most dont know is that he was convinced that Rock and Roll was the way to go after seeing Elvis live on stage in 1955. He eventually played as opening act for another great rock and roll band ... and that performance got him a record deal.

After signing on later with another label, Buddy Holly and The Crickets crossed a racial divide of sorts by playing at The Apollo Theatre in New York. The acts for the week long event were all black, except for Buddy and his band. After a few performances, they were accepted for their talent by the local audience, which were also all black folk.

Another part of the Buddy Holly biography most fans don't know is that Buddy got married. He moved to New York to explore the music scene there while his band split and returned to Lubbock. Unable to get royalties from his manager and battling legal issues, Buddy had to return to touring to pay the bills. When offered to be part of The Winter Party Tour across the Midwest for 3 weeks, he accepted.

Country legend Waylon Jennings joined the Buddy Holly band to play bass and Tommy Allsup played guitar at this time.

After playing one show in Green Bay Wisconsin, (with a famous to be unknown 17 yr old in attendance), the show moved to Clear Lake Iowa and the famous Surf Ballroom. This stop was added at the last minute and was not part of the initial tour schedule.

The Buddy Holly Plane Crash

When the Clear Lake show finished, Buddy had a plane charted for him, Waylon and Tommy. Waylon gave up his plane seat to The Big Bopper because JD was suffering from the flu. Waylon took a seat on the cold tour bus instead. Valens wanted Allsups plane seat, so they flipped a coin and Valens won the toss.

The aircraft carrying Buddy, The Big Bopper and Valens took off around 1am on 3 Feb 59 and crashed a few minutes later. The wreckage was discovered later that morning around 9am.

It was later revealed that the pilot, 21 yr old Roger Peterson, was not licensed to fly instruments having failed his test a few months earlier. The weather was also bad that eveing after midnight when the plane took off. It crashed 8 miles from the airport killing the party of 4.

Buddy Holly Biography Facts

The song Peggy Sue, was initially called Cindy Lou, and was changed when fellow Cricket member Jerry Allison convinced Buddy it was a better title.
It was named after Allison's soon to be wife, Peggy Sue)
Buddy Holly's wife was 2 weeks pregnant when he died ... she later lost the baby
Bruce Springsteen plays Buddy Holly music before each live concert
Don McLean's monster hit in 1971 American Pie was written due to this tragic plane crash
After more than 50 years being married to Buddy Holly, his wife Maria Elena has never visited his gravesite
His tombstone has the correct spelling of Holley
Buddy produced Waylon Jennings first album, Jolé Blon