News Items Today

The poignant story of this monumental loss to music was immortalised in Don Mclean’s highly moving, and epic single. ‘Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie’ - by Don Mclean -

The Late, Great, Buddy Holly – September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959 - Peggy Sue

- The Day The Music Died –

Texan born, singer/songwriter Buddy Holly, real name, Charles Hardin Holley, died February the 3rd, 1959 in a private plane crash, along with fellow musicians, Richie Valens and Big Boppa. He was aged just 23 years.

“Holly is described by critic Bruce Eder as “the single most influential creative force in early rock and roll.” His works and innovations were copied by his contemporaries and later musicians, notably The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones, and exerted a profound influence on popular music. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Holly #13 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. Wikepedia

Along with his backing boys, ‘The Crickets’, Buddy Holly was fast winning the hearts of the American audiences and he also managed, through his music, to bridge some of the racial divide that marked rock n’ roll music at that time.

Originally a blue grass musician, Holly was inspired to Rock n Roll after seeing Elvis Presley perform in concert. This new direction to his music saw his career take off big style, aided by his backing band The Cricketeers, then later re-named, The Crickets.

After the release of several hugely successful songs which included, Raining in my heart, Maybe baby, Oh, boy!, Rave on and Guess it doesn’t matter anymore, in 1958 Holly and the Crickets toured Australia and then went on to take the United Kingdom by storm.

Unlike Elvis, Holly was not your typical heart throb of the day. He was not considered traditionally good looking and had a nerdish, college boy quality about him, with large horn rimmed glasses, but what he did have was a great presence and charisma when he sang, which transcended appearance.

Holly met and fell in love with Maria Elena Santiago who he met at a New York music publishers, It was love at first sight and they were married two months later. In a statement at the time , Santiago is quoted as saying: “I’d never had a boyfriend in my life. I’d never been on a date before. But when I saw Buddy, it was like magic. We had something special: love at first sight.”

The ambitious Holly split with The Crickets in 1959 shortly before his death. The split was due to the fact that Holly wanted to join the lively New York music publishing scene, whilst the younger band members, being less ambitious, just wanted to go home to Lubbock, Texas and take things easy .

It was on his first solo tour, after performing at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa that the tragedy occurred. The line-up were flying at night, through snow and ice onto the next leg of the tour.

On that fateful day, Feb 3rd, 1959, aged just 23 years, Buddy Holly was lost to the world. His pregnant wife of only 6 months would normally have travelled with him on tour but she was feeling unwell at the time.

She said: “In a way, I blame myself. I was not feeling well when he left. I was two weeks pregnant, and I wanted Buddy to stay with me, but he had scheduled that tour. It was the only time I wasn’t with him. And I blame myself because I know that, if only I had gone along, Buddy never would have gotten into that airplane.”

On that tragic night of February 3rd the weather was bad with snow and driving wind. Pilot error was the conclusion and all three singers, plus the pilot perished just a short time from take-off. They crashed into a snow covered field where their bodies were scattered.

A sculpture marks the crash scene, composed of a metal guitar surrounded by records. Music fans make the yearly pilgrimage on the anniversary of the crash, to visit the shrine and to celebrate Buddy Holly , Richie Valens and Big Boppa’s huge contribution to the world of music.

Iconic and musically innovative, the legend and music of Buddy Holly burns brightly today and lives on in the hearts and minds of his fans.

It was one of those rare moments; similar to when J.F.K died, and John Lennon; you know exactly where you were and what you were doing. Such is the marked effect that Buddy Holly, in his short life, had upon the world of music. -

“I can’t remember if I cried, when I read about his widowed bride. But something touched me deep inside, the day the music died”. Don Mclean.

The macabre scene of the plane crash in Iowa, which wiped out Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and Big Boppa on February 3rd, 1959 -