Buddy Holly, an American singer, and composer who lived from September 7, 1936, to February 3, 1959, was a pivotal and innovative player in the development of rock & roll in the middle of the 1950s.
During the Great Depression, he was raised in a musical family in Lubbock, Texas, where he also learned to sing and play the guitar with his siblings.
His approach was influenced by gospel music, country music, and rhythm and blues performers that he and his high school buddies performed in Lubbock.
In 1952, he made his debut on neighborhood television; the following year, he and his friend Bob Montgomery founded the ensemble “Buddy and Bob.” After performing as Elvis Presley’s opener in 1955, he made the decision to pursue music as a vocation.
Three times that year, he served as Presley’s opening act, and his band’s sound changed altogether from country and western to rock and roll.
When he opened for Bill Haley & His Comets in October of that same year, Nashville scout Eddie Crandall noticed him and helped him secure a deal with Decca Records.
Was the Buddy Holly story accurate?
Our sources say Buddy Holly’s story was 67 percent accurate. Even if this New Hollywood-era movie has more than a hint of Old Hollywood sanitization, that’s not too far off from most stories of the real-life Holly.
On the other side, Holly’s band, the Crickets, doesn’t come off quite as well.
