The Short and Inspirational Life of Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley, better known as Buddy Holly, was born September 7, 1936, in Lubback, TX. He was an American musician and songwriter during the mid- 1950s. Holly learned to play numerous instruments. At a young age, he learned to play the fiddle, guitar, banjo and piano. Later in life, Holly was one of the first rock artists to play a solid-body electric guitar. This guitar gave Holly’s music an aggressive tone quality that was more pronounced than the traditional acoustic guitar (Charlton). As an innovator in rock music, Holly was inspired to turn to rock after seeing an Elvis Presley performance in 1955. Although inspired by Elvis, Holly never imitated the famous performer. Holly was well known for writing his own music. His style was witty, personalized and expressed emotions. Through his style of music, Holly was able to draw the attention from a multitude of fans. Holly created various groups, country and protorock. In 1956, Holly received his first record contract under the group Three …show more content…
The 1959 Winter Dance Party Tour consisted of multiple artists. Ritchie Valens, J.P. “The Big Bopper”, Dion and the Belmonts, Frank Sardo, Waylon Jennings, Tommy Allsup, and Carl Bunch were all traveling the tour with Buddy Holly. The anticipated 24 day tour started in January 1959. From the beginning the tour was challenging. The artists were traveling between shows that were often scheduled hundreds of miles apart, through one of the deadliest winters in the Midwest. The bus crammed full of artists kept having issues with breaking down, causing the bus to have no heat in below freezing temperatures. Holly’s drummer, Carl Bunch, ended up with frostbitten feet while on the bus and left the tour early. Tired of the long, cold bus rides, Holly requested a private plane to fly him and two of his band members from Mason City, IA to the next show in Fargo, ND (1959