Buddy Holly remembered

Buddy Holly performing in the ’50s. The singer inspired a whole generation of songwriters and new bands, from Dylan and the Rolling Stones to The Beatles, whose name was partly in homage to Holly’s band The Crickets.
Pic: PA Photos

Buddy Holly on stage at the Ritz Theatre, Wigan in 1958. Charles Hardin Holley (who changed the spelling of his surname due to an error in the contract) died 50 years ago today. The picture is part of an exhibition called ‘Buddy Holly: The Making Of An American Legend’, which is currently running at London’s Proud Galleries.

Pic: PA Photos

Buddy Holly and the Crickets perform on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ in 1957, the year they hit the bigtime with ‘That’ll Be The Day’. The Crickets went on performing after Buddy’s untimely death on February 3, 1958, and last year were inducted into the Musicians Hall Of Fame in Tennessee, performing their famous track with Keith Richards on guitar.
Pic: PA Photos

Buddy Holly with staff from Valentine Magazine at the Whiskey A GoGo on Wardour Street in London, 1958. The picture is part of an exhibition called ‘Buddy Holly: The Making Of An American Legend’, which is currently running at London’s Proud Galleries, to mark 50 years since his untimely death.
Pic: Proud Galleries/Bill Francis

Buddy Holly relaxes with some fans backstage at the Trocadero Theatre in London, 1958. The girls are actually Stella and Frances Tanner, famous in their own right as The Tanner Sisters.
Pic: Proud Galleries/Bill Francis

Buddy Holly looking pensive on the bus by Rochester’s Auditorium Theatre in New York, 1958. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has an interesting perspective on the age of Buddy Holly. "By about 1958," he once said, "it was either Elvis or Buddy Holly. It was split into two camps. The Elvis fans were the heavy leather boys and the Buddy Holly ones all somehow looked like him."
Pic: Proud Galleris/ Lewis Allen

Buddy Holly at Rochester’s Auditorium Theatre in 1958. Stars over the years have paid homage to the songwriting legend. Mick Jagger once said "you could learn from Buddy Holly how to write songs, the way he put them together. He was a beautiful writer". John Lennon, meanwhile, admitted "he made it OK to wear glasses".
Pic: Proud Galleris/ Lewis Allen

Buddy Holly at London’s Whiskey A GoGo in 1958, shortly before his death. The rock’n’roll singer was only 22 when he died in a plane crash, but he inspired numerous other artists. Bob Dylan said he was "a poet – way ahead of his time". Pic: Proud Galleries/Bill Francis

Buddy Holly at the Auditorium Theatre in Rochester, New York in 1958. He died in a tragic plane crash 50 years ago today (February 3), along with Ritchie Valens and J.P. ‘The Big Bopper’ Richardson. The picture is part of an exhibition called ‘Buddy Holly: The Making Of An American Legend’, which is currently running at London’s Proud Galleries.
Pic: Proud Galleris/ Lewis Allen