Buddy Holly

Pioneering rock and roll artist who defined the classic band lineup and influenced generations.

He was nicknamed "Buddy" from early childhood.^[1] On September 7, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas, Charles Hardin Holley was born as the fourth and last child of Lawrence Odell and Ella Pauline Holley.^[1]

Quick Facts

Birth name: Charles Hardin Holley
Born: 7 September 1936
Birthplace: Lubbock, Texas, U.S.
Died: 3 February 1959
Place of death: Grant Township, Iowa, U.S.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma as a result of a plane accident
Resting place: City of Lubbock Cemetery in Lubbock County, Texas
Occupation: Singer, songwriter

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Decca Records signed Holly in February 1956 but misspelled his surname as "Holly"^[2] His mother urged him to learn piano when he was eleven, but he stopped taking lessons after only nine months.^[3] Observing a fellow student perform with a guitar on the school bus prompted Holly to take up that instrument.^[3] An acoustic guitar from a pawnshop was purchased for him by his parents, and his brother Travis taught him to play it.^[3]

A local television talent show in 1952 featured Holly and Jack Neal performing as the duo Buddy and Jack.^[4]

What the cited sources add

A 2018 article by Harris notes that Buddy Holly & The Crickets were the first all-white band to perform at the Apollo Theater.^[5] Harris also reports that the band showed up at the Apollo unexpectedly, without being invited.^[5] The Apollo Theater's own history page mentions that by the mid-1970s, the theater presented only 22 weeks of shows per year.^[6]

References

Wikipedia, "Buddy Holly" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Driggars, "Larry Holley, Eldest Brother of Buddy Holly, Dies at 96", Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, April 8, 2022; "Travis Holley, One of Buddy's Brothers, Dies Thursday (Playbill by Kerns Blog)", lubbockonline.com; "Patricia Holley Obituary (2008) - Surrey Advertiser", www.legacy.com; Buddy Holly: A Biography By Ellis Amburn pg. 10; Gribbin 2012, p. 12 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Buddy Holly" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Carr, Joseph Munde, Alan 1997, p. 130; Port, "The Birth of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul And The Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock 'n' Roll", Scribner, 2019, p. 121 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Buddy Holly" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gribbin 2012, p. 12 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Buddy Holly" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Schinder Schwartz 2007, p. 80 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Harris, "Buddy Holly was the First White Act to Play the Apollo Theater in Harlem", The Vintage News, August 30, 2018. facts only, no text reused. thevintagenews.com
"A History of Excellence", Apollo Theater. facts only, no text reused. apollotheater.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Buddy Holly (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.