When Buddy Holly's plane went down in an Iowa cornfield a little past 1 a.m. on the 3rd of February 1959, there was nobody waiting for him among the wreckage. His home in Lubbock, Texas was never turned into a pilgrimage site and his family never held a memorial service for his fans, especially because of their Baptist belief which was never in consent with his music. Unlike Elvis Presley or John Lennon, the 22-year-old rock ‘n’ roll star never had a vigil.
The plane crash which took Buddy’s life also put an end to those of Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, aka J. P. Richardson, his band fellows and close friends. The three unthinkable losses were a huge blow to American music.
17-year-old Valens was from Los Angeles and was at the beginning of his career as he was rising to fame with his recently released hits “LaBamba” and “Donna.” The latter is thought to have been sung by the young artist to his girlfriend over the telephone. “Donna” would get as high as No. 2 in the country later in 1959.
As for the “Big Bopper,” well, he was the oldest of the trio at 28. Still, not a good age to die, anyway, especially after releasing a song like “Chantilly Lace,” which was on the charts for 22 weeks since the 4th of August 1958.
With each passing decade, Buddy Holly’s name has turned into a legend, in spite of the fact that his career only lasted a year and a half with only one number one single.
And yet, in an unbelievable way, his influence on early rock ‘n’ roll seems to be unmatched, which inevitably makes us ask ourselves what would rock pioneer Holly have accomplished if he had not passed away. He was only 22 and had already proven to be a pop maestro with hits like "That'll Be the Day" and "Peggy Sue."
After his sudden death, Buddy Holly’s albums continued to sell like crazy. Britain devoured his records faster than the record company could even produce them.
Holly soon was to become one of the forefathers of the British Invasion that would strike America five years later, making John Lennon and George Harrison learn to play guitar mostly by listening to Buddy Holly’s records.
In 1955 Buddy was barely out of high school when he sang in the opening of an Elvis Presley concert by simply popularizing two guitars, one bass and one drum lineup.
This would be the kind of arrangement that so many bands influenced from in the future years. For instance, the first Rolling Stones' single released in the U.S. was cover of Holly's "Not Fade Away".
It has been 50 years now and there is nobody alive who can actually remember seeing Buddy Holly perform live. But considering his influence today, it would not be out of line to say that his legend will definitely linger on in musical culture.
It must have been quite a show that night in Clear Lake, the last for Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. They must have had a tremendous impact on people since every year their fans make a memorable concert in their honor at the Surf, the first weekend in February.
Other popular musicians like Glenn Miller, Patsy Cline, Otis Redding, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jim Croce, Rick Nelson and Aaliyah died in air crashes, but Buddy Holly retains a particular hold on everyone who has heard of him and his music.
