Buddy Holly was born in Lubbock, Texas, USA, on 7 September, 1936, and named Charles Hardin Holley after his grandfathers. The nickname, Buddy, was given to him when his parents decided his 'was too long a name for such a little boy'. The 'Holly' spelling came about from an uncorrected mistake on Buddy's first recording contract.

Buddy Holly was one of the most influential founders of Rock 'n' Roll, despite his career tragically lasting only 18 months. Both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, two hugely successful and influential bands, were heavily influenced by Buddy's style. He played lead guitar in a band known as The Crickets. His guitar playing was a blend of Country/Western music and Rhythm & Blues. He had a very distinctive sound, playing chord solos when the norm was to play single string lead guitar. He was also famous for being one of the first musicians to wear his glasses on stage and for his 'hiccup' style of singing.

Holly and The Crickets entered areas of music such as Rhythm & Blues which, until then, had been exclusive to black artists. Once, they were even mistaken for a black group and booked to perform at the Apollo Theater, Harlem, New York, for a mostly black audience. Although, at first, the band was booed, by their third day performing, they had become a hit.

Some of Buddy's best-known hits include:

• 'That'll Be The Day'
• 'Peggy Sue'
• 'Oh Boy!'
• 'It Doesn't Matter Anymore'
• 'True Love Ways'

Holly was also a very inventive recording artist, and broke new ground in the studio. He was one of the first artists - if not the first - to double-track vocal and guitar parts, a good example being the ballad 'Words Of Love'. On 'Peggy Sue', he had the drums removed from the studio and run through an echo device; then he manually raised and lowered the volume in time with the music, for unusual effect. When rehearsing 'Everyday', Jerry Allison (drummer with The Crickets) joined in, improvising by slapping his knees, and the sound appealed to Holly; so the only drumming on the recording is Jerry slapping his knees.

In 1959, as part of a rock show, Holly toured with Ritchie Valens and JP Richardson, AKA 'The Big Bopper'. From performance to performance they rode in buses, which kept breaking down. One day, after a concert in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly chartered a small plane to get to the next town with some extra time to rest. On the morning of 3 February, the plane carrying Holly, Valens, and Richardson took off from Mason City, Iowa, and crashed after eight miles, killing everyone on board, including the pilot, Roger Peterson.

The West End theatre district of London, UK, has been running a show called Buddy for more than 12 years, which celebrates the life and works of Buddy Holly. If audience reactions are anything to go by, his music will live on for a long time to come.

Buddy Trivia

• Don McLean's song 'American Pie' is considered to be a lament for Buddy Holly, including references to 'the day the music died'.

• The Beatles and The Hollies both derived their names from Buddy & The Crickets.

• The Rolling Stones' first hit was a cover of Buddy's 'Not Fade Away'.

• Buddy only had one number one single in the UK: the double 'A' sided 'It Doesn't Matter Anymore'/'Raining In My Heart', which was released after his death.

• Two films have been made about Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (1978), starring Gary Busey, and The Real Buddy Holly Story (1987), narrated by Paul McCartney.

• Buddy proposed to Maria Elena Santiago on their first date.

• On 1 July, 1976, Paul McCartney (a lifelong Buddy fan) purchased the rights to Holly's entire song catalogue.

• Probably Buddy's most famous hit, 'Peggy Sue', was originally called 'Cindy Lou', and was only changed at the request of Buddy's drummer, who wanted the song to be named after his girlfriend.