📍Lubbock, Texas, USA
1936 – 1958“I was born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock, Texas, in September 1936, the youngest of four children of L.O. and Ella Holley. Lubbock was a dusty, flat cotton town on the high plains of West Texas, with big skies, fierce winds and Baptist churches on every corner. Times were hard during the Depression, and my father changed jobs often, so we moved house many times within the town. But ours was a warm, honest, hardworking family, and music held it together: everyone except my father sang or played an instrument. My mother nicknamed me Buddy. I learned piano, violin and then guitar, and my older brothers took me along to play at local talent shows. I loved country music, Hank Williams, Bob Wills and the Carter Family, and late at night I listened to rhythm and blues on distant radio stations. In 1953, with my friend Bob Montgomery, I formed a duo called Buddy and Bob, and we sang country harmonies on KDAV's Sunday Party radio show. At Lubbock High School I wrote that I hoped to make a career of western music if I was good enough. In 1955 we opened for Elvis Presley in Lubbock, and after that our sound turned to rock and roll. With my band, the Crickets, I recorded That'll Be the Day and Peggy Sue, and my songs inspired the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. I always came home to Lubbock. Today the Buddy Holly Center stands in the town's Depot District, with my glasses on display, and my statue looks out over the West Texas Walk of Fame.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today