Buddy Holly lost his life on February 3, 1959, and to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of that plane crash, Spencer Leigh assesses the importance of the legendary figure, looking at his music, his life, his image, and his legacy.
Leigh has interviewed Holly’s widow, Maria Elena; all the key Crickets; the compère of his 1958 UK tour, Des O’Connor; as well as Ritchie Valens’ manager and the Big Bopper’s son, the other two singers who died in the crash. There are scores of people talking about Buddy Holly’s legacy (Bobby Vee, Tim Rice, Mike Batt), and Leigh has spoken to hundreds of Holly’s acquaintances and musicians.
The book shows how Buddy Holly’s UK tour was crucial to the British beat explosion of the 1960s spawning the Beatles, and that without Buddy Holly, today’s popular music would be radically different.
Spencer Leigh also reveals how impulsive Buddy Holly was and how that impulsiveness cost him his life.
