Buddy Holly and the Crickets

Buddy Holly was one of the most popular rock and roll musicians of the fifties. He was also one of the most important. While greatly successful his career was cut short in 1959 due to a plane crash that also killed J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens in what came to be immortalized in the Don McLean hit American Pie as "The Day the Music Died". The rock band The Hollies were named after him. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The Rolling Stones song Not Fade Away was influenced by Holly. College rock band Weezer's first hit single was named ''Buddy Holly. ''He was a charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an obvious choice. However, the Crickets were not inducted with him. The Hall has a history of neglecting backing groups. They were inducted in a special committee many years later.