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Buddy Holly Facts

Buddy Holly Facts
Buddy Holly was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who became famous in the 1950s in the rock and roll era along with Elvis Presley and other musical icons, but died tragically at the age of only 22 in a plane crash. He was born Charles Hardin Holley on September 7th, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas, to Lawrence Odell Holley and Ella Pauline Drake. His family was very musical and he performed with siblings as a child in talent shows. Buddy started taking piano lessons when he was 11 but he switched to guitar after nine months. He continued as a musician while in high school and after graduation decided to pursue music as a career.
Interesting Buddy Holly Facts:
Buddy Holly had three older siblings named Patricia Lou, Travis, and Larry.
Buddy got the nickname Buddy while still a child because his mother felt that his given name was too much for a young child.
Buddy changed his last name to Holly from Holley after it was misspelled on a recording contract and he determined he liked it better.
Buddy Holly played regularly on the radio after high school with a friend from elementary school named Bob Montgomery. They played country and western music under the name Buddy and Bob.
When Buddy Holly saw Elvis Presley perform he began to change his music style from country and western to rock and roll.
Buddy Holly and his band began recording demos and singles as Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes in 1956 in Nashville. By 1957 the band name had been changed to The Crickets and Buddy wrote the song That'll Be the Day and recorded it with The Crickets that same year. It became their breakthrough hit.
From August of 1957 to August of 1958 Buddy Holly and The Crickets recorded seven top 40 singles.
Buddy Holly split from The Crickets in October 1958 and moved to New York City's Greenwich Village.
In 1959 Buddy Holly agreed to tour with The Winter Dance Party tour across the Midwest to meet with financial and legal issues that arose from his breakup with his band.
Transportation for the tour was not ideal and the tour buses were not heated and broke down twice. This prompted Buddy Holly to find another mode of transportation.
Buddy Holly charted a plane that would take him, Tommy Allsup, and Waylon Jennings from Clear Lake, Iowa to Moorhead, Minnesota.
Tommy Allsup gave up his seat on the flight to Ritchie Valens and Waylon Jennings gave up his seat to J.P. Richardson, also known as The Big Bopper.
On February 3rd, 1959, at 1:00am the plane crashed into a cornfield during bad weather, killing all three passengers and the pilot on impact.
Buddy Holly's funeral was held on February 7th, officiated by the minister who had married Buddy Holly and Maria Elena only months earlier.
Musician Don McLean recorded the song American Pie inspired by Buddy Holly and his tragic death.
The biographical film The Buddy Holly Story was released in 1978 but was met with criticism because of errors. Paul McCartney then produced a more accurate documentary titled The Real Buddy Holly Story in 1985.


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