Charles Hardin Holley, known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas, during the Great Depression, and learned to play guitar and sing alongside his siblings. Holly's style was country and western music which he performed in Lubbock with his friends from high school.
The Crickets were an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in January 1957. Their first hit record, "That'll Be the Day", released in May 1957, peaked at number three on the Billboard Top 100 chart on September 16, 1957. The sleeve of their first album, The "Chirping" Crickets, shows the band line-up at the time: Holly on lead vocals and lead guitar, Niki Sullivan on rhythm guitar, Jerry Allison on drums, and Joe B. Mauldin on bass. The Crickets helped set the template for subsequent rock bands, such as the Beatles, with their guitar-bass-drums line-up, performing their own material. After Holly's death in 1959, the band continued to tour and record into the 1960s and beyond with other band members through to the 21st century.
María Elena Holly is the widow of American rock and roll pioneer Buddy Holly. As a receptionist at Peermusic, she met with Holly and his band the Crickets on June 19, 1958, and Holly proposed to her after five hours on their first date. Less than two months later, the couple married on August 15, 1958, in Lubbock, Texas. On February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly died in a plane crash along with fellow musicians Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper outside Clear Lake, Iowa. After learning of her husband's death from the television news, she suffered a miscarriage the following day and could not attend Holly's funeral in Lubbock.
"Not Fade Away" is a song credited to Buddy Holly and Norman Petty and first recorded by Holly and his band, the Crickets.
"Peggy Sue" is a rock and roll song written by Jerry Allison and Norman Petty, and recorded and released as a single by Buddy Holly on September 20, 1957. The Crickets are not mentioned on label of the single, but band members Joe B. Mauldin and Jerry Allison (drums) played on the recording. This recording was also released on Holly's eponymous 1958 album.
Jerry Ivan Allison was an American musician. He was best known as the drummer for the Crickets and co-writer of their hits "That'll Be the Day" and "Peggy Sue", recorded with Buddy Holly. His only solo chart entry on the Billboard Hot 100 was "Real Wild Child", issued in 1958 under the name Ivan. Allison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
Norman Petty was an American musician, record producer, publisher, and radio station owner. He is considered to be one of the founding fathers of early rock & roll. With Vi Ann Petty—his wife and vocalist—he founded the Norman Petty Trio.
Buddy Holly is the debut studio album by Buddy Holly. It was released by Coral Records on February 20, 1958. The album, featuring a rare photo of Holly without his trademark glasses on the front cover, collects Holly's four hit singles released on the Coral label; "Words of Love", "Peggy Sue", "I'm Gonna Love You Too", and "Rave On!". The backing group was Buddy Holly's band, the Crickets.
Buddy Holly recorded under several names and with several different backing bands. The Crickets played on almost all of his singles in 1957 and 1958.
"Oh, Boy!" is a song written by Sonny West, Bill Tilghman and Norman Petty. The song was included on the album The "Chirping" Crickets and was also released as the A-side of a single, with "Not Fade Away" as the B-side. The song peaked at number 10 on the US charts, number 3 on the UK charts in early 1958, and number 26 in Canada.
"I'm Gonna Love You Too" is a song written by Joe B. Mauldin, Niki Sullivan and Norman Petty, originally recorded by Buddy Holly in 1957 and released as a single in 1958. It was covered 20 years later by American new wave band Blondie and released as the lead single in the U.S. from their multi-platinum 1978 album Parallel Lines.
"Maybe Baby" is a rock-and-roll song written by Buddy Holly and the producer Norman Petty, and recorded by Holly and the Crickets in 1957. The single, released in January 1958 and credited to the Crickets, was a Top 40 hit in the U.S., the UK, and Canada.
"Everyday" is a song written by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty, recorded by Buddy Holly and the Crickets on May 29, 1957, and released on September 20, 1957, as the B-side of "Peggy Sue". The single went to number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1957. "Everyday" is ranked number 238 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
The Buddy Holly Story is the first posthumously released compilation album by Buddy Holly and the Crickets. The album was released on February 28, 1959 by Coral Records less than a month after Holly's death.
"Peggy Sue Got Married" is a song written and performed by Buddy Holly. It was posthumously released in July 1959 as a 45-rpm single with "Crying, Waiting, Hoping". It refers to his 1957 hit song "Peggy Sue". It was one of the first sequels of the rock era.
"Crying, Waiting, Hoping" is a song written by Buddy Holly. It was released in 1959 as the B-side to "Peggy Sue Got Married". Three versions of Holly's recording were released: the 1959 commercial release, the 1964 reissue with different orchestration, and Holly's original, private home recording.
Joseph Sonny West was an American songwriter and musician, best known as the co-writer of two of Buddy Holly's biggest hits: "Oh, Boy!" and "Rave On".
In Style With the Crickets is a rock and roll album by the Crickets. Although it was the band's first release following the departure and subsequent death of their front man, Buddy Holly, it still contains many of the band's most memorable songs and many tracks have also been featured on numerous compilations over the years. Originally released as an LP record on December 5, 1960, the album remained out of print for some time until it was re-released on CD in 1993, with bonus tracks not featured on the original album.
"It's So Easy!" is a rock-and-roll song written by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty. It was originally released as a single in 1958 by the Crickets but failed to chart. It was the final release by the Crickets when Holly was still in the band.
"Think It Over" is a rock-and-roll song written by Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, and Norman Petty in 1958, originally recorded by the Crickets. Vi Petty, Norman Petty's wife, played piano on this recording.
