Buddy Holly

Object Details

Artist

Lew Allen, born 1939

Sitter

Buddy Holly, 7 Sep 1936 - 3 Feb 1959

Exhibition Label

Born Lubbock, Texas

Killed in a plane crash just as he attained stardom, Charles Hardin “Buddy” Holly is one of the most influential and mythic figures in American music. Raised in a musical family and steeped in a crossroads of musical genres that included gospel, country, and rhythm and blues, Holly formed his own band out of high school. Soon he was opening for Elvis Presley in Lubbock, Texas (1955). By 1957, Holly had a new record contract and a new band, and his career took off nationally and internationally; his first hit was “That’ll Be the Day.” Tragically, Holly and performers Ritchie Valens and J. P. Richardson (“The Big Bopper”) were killed in a plane crash in Iowa in January 1959. Memorialized later as “The Day the Music Died,” the myth of Buddy Holly has overshadowed his influence as a performer and guitarist in the history of rock and roll.

Nacido en Lubbock, Texas

Charles Hardin “Buddy” Holly, fallecido en un accidente aéreo cuando apenas alcanzaba el estrellato, es una de las figuras más influyentes y míticas de la música estadounidense. Holly creció en el seno de una familia musical absorbiendo una confluencia de géneros como el góspel, el country y el rhythm and blues, y al terminar la escuela superior formó su propia banda. Poco después ya había logrado presentarse como primer acto en un concierto de Elvis Presley en Lubbock, Texas (1955). Para 1957 tenía contrato nuevo y banda nueva, y su carrera despegó a nivel nacional e internacional. Su primer hit fue “That’ll Be the Day”. Trágicamente, Holly y los músicos Ricthie Valens y J. P. Richardson (“The Big Bopper”) perecieron en un accidente de avión en Iowa en enero de 1959. El mito de su muerte, conmemorado como “El día que murió la música”, ha opacado la influencia de Holly como cantante y guitarrista en la historia del rock and roll.

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

1958 (printed later)

Object number

NPG.2015.60

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Copyright

© Lew Allen

Type

Photograph

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Image: 25.5 × 33.2 cm (10 1/16 × 13 1/16")

Sheet: 27.9 × 35.4 cm (11 × 13 15/16")

Mat: 40.6 × 55.9 cm (16 × 22")

Place

United States\New York\Monroe\Rochester

See more items in

National Portrait Gallery Collection

National Portrait Gallery

Topic

Costume\Dress Accessory\Eyeglasses

Interior\Performing Arts\Theatrical\Stage

Music\Musical instrument\Guitar

Music\Musical instrument\Trumpet

Music\Musical instrument\Trombone

Music\Musical instrument\Drum

Buddy Holly: Male

Buddy Holly: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician

Portrait

Record ID

npg_NPG.2015.60

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4cfc03abc-6e8e-4441-b5c7-3dca97cee09b