Buddy Holly

Charles Hardin Holley was born on September 7, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas, the youngest of four children of Lawrence Odell Holley and Ella Pauline Drake. His siblings were Larry, Travis, and Patricia Lou. The family were members of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, and Holly was baptized a Baptist. Known from early childhood by the nickname Buddy, he grew up during the Great Depression as his family moved frequently within Lubbock while his father changed jobs multiple times.

Music was a constant presence in the Holley household. All family members except his father could play an instrument or sing, and the elder brothers performed in local talent shows. At age eleven, Holly began piano lessons at his mother's urging but stopped after nine months, switching to guitar after watching a classmate play on a school bus. His parents first purchased a steel guitar, but Holly wanted an acoustic instrument like his brother's, which they eventually bought from a local pawnshop. Travis taught him to play it. His early musical influences included Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, Moon Mullican, Bill Monroe, Hank Snow, Bob Wills, and the Carter Family. At Roscoe Wilson Elementary he befriended Bob Montgomery, and the two practiced songs by the Louvin Brothers and Johnnie and Jack while listening to radio programs including Grand Ole Opry on WSM, Louisiana Hayride on KWKH, and Big D Jamboree. Holly also played with high school musicians Sonny Curtis and Jerry Allison.

Holly made his first television appearance in 1952, performing in a local talent contest as part of a duo billed as Buddy and Jack with Jack Neal. After Neal's departure, Montgomery took his place, and the pair performed as Buddy and Bob, beginning a regular slot on the Sunday Party show on KDAV in 1953. During this period Holly absorbed blues and rhythm and blues from late-night radio stations, blending those influences with his existing country and western foundation.

After graduating from Lubbock High School, Holly committed to a full-time music career. Seeing Elvis Presley perform live in Lubbock proved a decisive influence. Holly opened for Presley in February at the Fair Park Coliseum, again in April at the Cotton Club, and a third time in June at the Coliseum. By then his band included Larry Welborn on stand-up bass and Allison on drums, and the group's style had shifted from country and western toward rock and roll. In October of that year, Holly opened for Bill Haley and His Comets, where Nashville scout Eddie Crandall spotted him. Crandall persuaded Grand Ole Opry manager Jim Denny to pursue a recording contract, and a demo tape forwarded to Paul Cohen resulted in the band signing with Decca Records in February 1956. A clerical error in the contract rendered his surname as Holly rather than Holley, and he adopted that spelling permanently.

His first formal recording session took place on January 26, 1956, produced by Owen Bradley, who was known for orchestrated country productions for artists such as Patsy Cline. Holly attended two additional Nashville sessions but grew frustrated by Bradley's control over arrangements and session musicians. Decca released two singles, neither of which made a commercial impact, and on January 22, 1957, the label informed Holly his contract would not be renewed, while also restricting him from re-recording the same material for five years.

Dissatisfied with his Decca experience, Holly sought out producer Norman Petty in Clovis, New Mexico, who had produced successful records for Buddy Knox and Jimmy Bowen. Holly recorded a demo of That'll Be the Day along with other songs. Petty became the band's manager and submitted the recording to Brunswick Records, which released it as a single credited to the Crickets, a name the band chose in part to work around the limitations of Holly's Decca contract. By September 1957, That'll Be the Day had reached the top of both the American and British singles charts. October brought another major hit with Peggy Sue. The album The Chirping Crickets, released in November 1957, climbed to number five on the UK Albums Chart. Holly made his second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in January 1958 and subsequently toured Australia and the United Kingdom.

In early 1959, Holly assembled a new touring band comprising Waylon Jennings on bass, Tommy Allsup on guitar, and Carl Bunch on drums, and set out on a tour of the midwestern United States. Following a performance in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly chartered a plane to reach the next show in Moorhead, Minnesota. Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft crashed, killing Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson on February 3, 1959. Don McLean later referred to the date as the Day the Music Died in his song American Pie.

Holly was among the first artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. Rolling Stone magazine placed him at number thirteen on its list of 100 Greatest Artists in 2010. Artists including Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, the Hollies, Elvis Costello, and Elton John have cited him as a major influence. He is credited with establishing the rock-and-roll band lineup of two guitars, bass, and drums. His Broadway legacy includes a book writing credit for the stage production Buddy.