Facts About Buddy Holly That Go Beyond the Day the Music Died
February 3, 1959: a day forever remembered as “the day the music died.” On that cold Iowa night, Buddy Holly was tragically killed in a plane crash at just 22 years old, along with pilot Roger Peterson and fellow rising stars Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper.
While his life and career were heartbreakingly brief, Holly reshaped rock ’n’ roll in ways that still echo today. Read on to explore the life, legacy and lasting influence of one of music history’s most important pioneers.
Origins of Buddy Holly's Stage Name
Charles Hardin Holley was born on September 7, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas. He had three older siblings, and his mother gave him the nickname "Buddy" at a very young age because she felt his birth name was too large for her little son.
The future musician would adopt the last name "Holly" (without the "e") at the beginning of his recording career, due to a misspelling.
He Was Drawn to Music at a Young Age
As a kid, Holly learned to play the piano, the fiddle and the guitar, which his brother taught him to use. He also liked to sing - there's even a 1949 recording of "My Two-Timin' Woman" that demonstrates his nascent voice.
He Was 'Innately Endowed' With Talent
Holly joined his school choir in high school, and a fellow student once said that, at the time, she didn't think his music was any good. Another member also had a fondness for songwriting, but admitted his skills weren't on the same level as Holly's.
Holly's Signature Glasses Started a Fashion Trend
At the start of his career, Buddy Holly wore typical wire-framed glasses. That changed after his eye doctor recommended he wear horn-rimmed glasses reminiscent of Phil Silvers' character, Sergeant Bilko. After a while, his spectacles were known as "Buddy Holly Glasses."
According to his optometrist, Holly had 20/800 vision and needed the spectacles. He was also happy with how they shaped his image.
A Monumental Turning Point in His Career
Following high school, Holly focused on country music, and his band performed regularly on his hometown radio station. He also opened for acts that came through Lubbock on tour - including Elvis Presley in 1955!
Bandmate Sonny Curtis later recalled: "When Elvis came along, Buddy fell in love with Elvis and we began to change. The next day we became Elvis clones."
Discovered at a Skating Rink
Rock 'n' roll wasn't popular in Lubbock in the 1950s - preachers destroyed piles ofl records because they believed the music was a bad influence on young people. Despite that, Texas teenagers would drive their cars out into the cotton fields to blast the music and dance their hearts out.
Holly and his band were discovered while playing at a skating rink. In 1956, his group had a new lineup called "The Crickets."
Topping American Music Charts
In just one year, the Crickets charted with seven different Top 40 singles. "That'll Be the Day" topped the US charts 500 days before Holly died tragically.
Holly's music tapped into issues teens could relate to, including love and loss. For example, "Peggy Sue" is about missing a woman, "Ting-A-Ling" is about urges and "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care" is about how opposites attract.
Buddy Holly and Ed Sullivan Didn't Respect Each Other
Although Holly and the Crickets performed on The Ed Sullivan Show twice, they weren't fond of each other. During one appearance, the band was planning on performing their song "Oh Boy," but Sullivan refused, saying the lyrics were too suggestive for his audience.
Holly wasn't open to Sullivan's opinion, however, and they went ahead with their original plan. To show his displeasure, Sullivan mispronounced Holly's name when introducing him to the stage and even turned off his guitar amplifier. Holly refused to play on the show again.
Buddy Holly Wanted to Go Solo
In 1958, Buddy Holly went on a date with a woman four years his senior named Maria Elena Santiago. He proposed to her that night, and they wed less than two months later. The pair then moved to Greenwich Village.
Around this time, Holly split up with the Crickets and decided to launch a solo career.
His Winter Dance Party Tour Had Logistical Problems
In 1959, Holly put together a band for his upcoming Winter Dance Party Tour, which included bassist Waylon Jennings, guitarist Tommy Allsup and drummer Carl Bunch. The tour was difficult to manage because the distance between some of the venues was quite far in some cases. Another issue was the tour buses, which weren't heated and broke down twice.
The Alternative Didn't Seem So Bad... At First
Conditions were so bad on tour that Bunch got frostbite on his toes on the bus and was hospitalized. This prompted Holly to look for alternative transportation. They were expected to play in Clear Lake, Iowa, on February 2, so he chartered a four-seat airplane.
No one could predict the implications of this decision.
The Most Notorious Coin Flip of All Time
The Clear Lake show ended prior to midnight, and as the group was getting ready to board the plane, Allsup agreed to flip a coin with fellow musician Ritchie Valens over his seat. Valens called heads and won. He reportedly declared that it was the first time he'd ever won anything.
Out of the kindness of his heart, Jennings gave his seat up to J.P. Richardson - better known as the Big Bopper - who was battling influenza and explained the tour bus wasn't suitable for a man as big as he was.
A Flight That Never Should Have Taken Off
Despite the poor weather conditions, pilot Roger Peterson decided to fly anyway. The 21-year-old wasn't certified to fly by instruments only, yet planned to take the men to Fargo, North Dakota.
He'd already worked 17 hours that day and a storm was brewing, but he decided to make the trip because Holly was such a big star.
'The Day the Music Died'
Around 1:00 AM on February 3, 1959, the plane crashed into a cornfield, just a few miles from the Mason City, Iowa, airport. The four occupants - Holly, Valens, Richardson and Peterson - died instantly. The three musicians were ejected upon impact and were killed due to massive chest injuries and brain trauma.
Help Didn't Arrive Until 10 Hours Later
Peterson was reportedly never informed a blizzard was coming, and the plane was in the air for just minutes before it crashed.
It's unclear what led to the accident. Some speculate he flew right into the storm and was unable to see anything. As a result, he flew down, instead of up. The plane crashed at a speed of around 170 MPH.
The scene was untouched for 10 hours because nobody could get to the site until the following morning.
Richie Valens Had a Fear of Flying
Valens was just 18 years old when he died in the crash and only eight months into his career. He was most known for his hit song "La Bamba," which had its roots in Mexican folk music. He also sang "Donna," which hit No. 2 on the charts.
Valens made Spanish-speaking rock 'n' roll popular. He was also a self-taught musician who was so talented he could improvise music and lyrics on the spot. He was afraid of flying because several friends were killed in a plane accident.
The Big Bopper's Son Exhumed His Body
The Big Bopper was a rockabilly star best known for his 1958 hit, "Chantilly Lace." Before he launched his music career, he studied pre-law and spent two years in the US Army. While working at a radio station, he saw kids doing a dance called the "Bop" and decided to name himself The Big Bopper.
In 2007, his son exhumed his father's body, as an internet rumor claimed a gun was fired on the plane and The Big Bopper had initially survived the crash. A forensic anthropologist concluded no foul play was involved.
Holly's Wife Lost Their Baby After Hearing About the Crash
Holly's mother heard about his death after a neighbor urged her to turn on the radio. Upon hearing the news, she cried and collapsed.
Holly's wife learned of her husband's death from a news broadcast. The next day she had a miscarriage, which was attributed to "psychological drama."
The Plane Crash Resulted in Policy Changes
After Holly's untimely death at age 22, authorities instituted a policy, in which they would notify victims' families before releasing their names to the general public.
Surprisingly, the Winter Dance Party Tour wasn't canceled. Jennings simply sang Holly's songs, and Frankie Avalon, who was 18 at the time, filled in for the other stars.
The Release of a Greatest Hits Album
Following Holly's death, his single "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" went from mediocre sales to No. 13 on the charts. This was a big deal because, in those days, the music industry didn't capitalize on untimely deaths like it does today.
Holly's albums sold well following his death. His record label quickly produced a greatest hits album, which sat on the Billboard charts off and on for the next seven years. British fans, in particular, gobbled up his music. John Lennon and George Harrison of the Beatles learned to play guitar in part after listening to his music.
Paying Homage to the Trio of Musicians
The day after the plane crash, Eddie Cochran wrote the song "Three Stars" about the musicians, but the tribute most people know and love is Don McLean's "American Pie." The classic tune is a metaphor for the rock 'n' roll generation losing its innocence, and it topped the charts in America, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
McLean pictured the teens attending the final Buddy Holly concert in Iowa wearing pink carnations, driving pick-up trucks, and dancing. The lyrics included: "I can't remember if I cried / When I read about his widowed bride / Something touched me deep inside /The day the music died."
Holly Influenced Some Musical Greats
Holly's career may have been short-lived, but he exerted great influence over young musicians who were fans of his music, including Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan.
In 1964, the Rolling Stones covered his song, "Not Fade Away," and it wound up being their first top 10 single. The Beatles partially picked the name of their band name in tribute to the Crickets. Paul McCartney later bought the publishing rights to Holly's music, demonstrating how much he admired Holly.
Holly's Hometown Was Slow to Embrace His Legacy
Lubbock didn't realize what they'd lost until nearly two decades following Holly's death. The town eventually named a street and a museum after him and erected a bronze statue in a local park. The Crossroads of Music Archive at Texas Tech University also contains the research of late music historian Bill Griggs, who methodically compiled information about the singer's life.
Lubbock is also the site of the Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences.
Gary Busey Played Him in a 1978 Film
In 1978, the biographical film, The Buddy Holly Story, hit theaters. It starred Gary Busey in the titular role, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Others actors included Don Stroud, Charles Martin Smith, Conrad Janis, William Jordan and Maria Richwine. The release was a success, earning $14.3 million at the box office with a budget of less than $2 million.
Busey and the other stars did their own singing and played their own instruments. He wrote in his biography that he lost 32 pounds to play Holly, who was just 146 pounds when he died.
Not Everyone Was Happy With the Film
Record producer Norman Petty worked with Holly and the Crickets and felt the movie didn't accurately portray the singer and his relationships with people in his band and the industry.
"I think that everyone in Buddy's life was done an injustice because the movie makes Buddy look like a tyrant, a personal and musical tyrant, which he was not," Petty told Rolling Stone in 1978. "He was very definite about his musical ideas but he was also a very warm, nice, human individual. People like [bandmate] Jerry Allison were very important to Buddy’s life, musically and personally."
Noelle Talmon
