Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly was an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, and guitarist who helped define the genre in the late 1950s.

His innovations—the standard rock band format, studio techniques, and songwriting approach—influenced countless artists despite his brief career.

Holly died in a 1959 plane crash at age 22, an event later memorialized as "the day the music died" in Don McLean's song "American Pie."