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Village People: Buddy Holly

(This post is part of a series called Village People: A Who’s Who of Greenwich Village, which will explore some of this intern’s favorite Village people and stories.)

Buddy_Holly_cropped
Source: Wikipedia.

Buddy Holly was born in 1936, in Lubbock, Texas.

As many music fans know, Holly formed the band that would ultimately become the Crickets in 1956, after being signed by Decca Records. He left the group when his bandmates decided they wanted to go back to Lubbcock, and Holly left for New York in 1958.

He lived at apartment 4H of the Brevoort Apartments at 11 Fifth Avenue, with his wife, Maria Elena Santiago. There, he recorded a series of acoustic songs, including ‘Crying, Waiting, Hoping,’ which were released posthumously. While living in New York, he frequented many of the Village’s music venues, including the Village Gate (158 Bleecker Street), the Blue Note (131 West 3rd Street), and the Village Vanguard (178 7th Avenue S).

He died on February 3, 1959 (that’s 56 years ago today) just months after coming to New York, while on tour in the Midwest. The music legend was a mere 22 yeas old.

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