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Buddy Holly


Buddy Holly was an American singer-songwriter who was a central figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born on 7 September 1936, in Lubbock, Texas, at 15:30; he was the fourth child of Lawrence Odell "L.O" Holley and Ella Pauline Drake. His older siblings were Larry Holley (born in 1925), Travis Holley (born in 1927), and Patricia Lou Holley (born in 1929). From early childhood, he was nicknamed "Buddy". During the Great Depression, the Holleys frequently moved residence within Lubbock; L.O changed jobs several times. The Holleys had an interest in music; all the family members except L.O were able to play an instrument or sing. The older Holley brothers performed in local talent shows; on one occasion, Buddy joined them on violin. Since he could not play it, his brother Larry Holley greased the strings so it would not make any sound. The brothers won the contest. During World War II, Larry and Travis were called to military service. Upon his return, Larry brought with him a guitar he had bought from a shipmate while serving in the Pacific. At age 11, Buddy took piano lessons, but abandoned them after nine months. He switched to guitar after he saw a classmate playing and singing on the school bus. Buddy's parents initially bought him a steel guitar, but he insisted that he wanted a guitar like his brother's. His parents bought the guitar from a pawn shop and Travis taught him to play it. His style was influenced by country music and rhythm and blues artists such as Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Snow, Bob Wills, and The Carter Family, and he performed in Lubbock with his friends from high school. He made his first appearance on local television in 1952, and the following year he formed the group "Buddy and Bob" with his friend Bob Montgomery. In 1955, after opening for Elvis Presley, Holly decided to pursue a career in music. He opened for Presley three times that year; his band's style shifted from country and western to entirely rock and roll. In October that year, when he opened for Bill Haley and His Comets, Holly was spotted by Nashville scout Eddie Crandall, who helped him get a contract with Decca Records. Holly's recording sessions at Decca were produced by Owen Bradley. Holly was unhappy with Bradley's restrictions and the results of their work, and went to producer Norman Petty in Clovis, New Mexico, where, among other songs, they recorded a demo of "That'll Be The Day". Petty became the band's manager and he sent the demo to Brunswick Records, which released it as a single credited to "The Crickets", which became the name of Holly's band. In September 1957, as the band toured, "That'll Be The Day" topped the US "Best Sellers in Stores" chart and the UK Pop Chart. Its success was followed in October by another major hit, "Peggy Sue". In November 1957, the album Chirping Crickets was released; it reached number five on the UK Albums Chart. By January 1958, Holly had appeared twice on The Ed Sullivan Show. Following his second performance on the show, he toured in Australia and then the UK. In early 1959, Holly assembled a new band consisting of future country music icon Waylon Jennings (bass) and Tommy Allsup (guitar), and embarked on a tour of the Midwestern U.S. On 3 February 1959, after a show in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly chartered an airplane to travel to his next show in Moorhead, Minnesota. Soon after takeoff, the plane crashed killing Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and the pilot Roger Peterson, an infamous milestone in rock history known as "The Day The Music Died", after singer-songwriter Don McLean so referred to it in his song "American Pie".

During his short career, Holly wrote, recorded, and produced his own material. He is often regarded as the artist that defined the traditional rock and roll lineup of two guitars, bass, and drums. Holly was a major influence on later popular music artists and bands, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and Elton John. He was among the first artists to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, and later ranked by Rolling Stone magazine at number 13 on its list of "100 Greatest Artists".

Similar artists to Buddy Holly

 * Bill Haley
 * Bo Diddley
 * Buddy Knox
 * Carl Perkins
 * Chubby Checker
 * Chuck Berry
 * Duane Eddy
 * Eddie Cochran
 * Elvis Presley
 * The Everly Brothers
 * Fats Domino
 * Gene Vincent
 * Jerry Lee Lewis
 * Johnny Burnette
 * Larry Williams
 * Little Richard
 * Ricky Nelson
 * Ritchie Valens
 * Roy Orbison
 * Stray Cats