Probably Rock and Roll's first great white songwriter (possibly along with Lieber and Stoller) and a great record maker.  Elvis's great leap forward was fusing country, blues and R&B; and paring it down to a guitar bass and drums.  Buddy made the next advance in adding great pop songcraft and intimate production.  Elvis's RCA recordings can't hold a candle to Buddy's short recording career.  Elvis's Sun Records are another matter all together.

It is a f***ing crime against music and common sense that one of the greatest early rock figures of all  has to rub shoulders if you will with the likes of Christina Aguilera and Maroon 5 on this list, to say nothing of the low 2.75 aggregate rating.

Enormous figure in rock history,influential.One of my favorites.

I'm usually not one to complain about the ranking of list items on this site, but honestly, Buddy Holly a 2.72? Get real. This guy was an early innovator whose jockstrap couldn't be filled by most of his contemporaries, including his idol, Elvis Presley. A talented writer and a bonafide virtuoso who was proficient with many instruments and various stylistic strains of the era. You could also hear obvious precursors to the New Wave sound in his music before rock itself even gained a signifigant foothold with the listening audience, and twenty years before Talking Heads debuted. The fact that he achieved such legendary status after being in the limelight for only a year and a half is a testimony to his undeniable talent. Buddy Holly was a rock god, and it's a shame that he cashed in at such an young age...

Maybe his early death puts on the rose-tinted glasses, but what he did was great.

How does Buddy have such a low rating when nobody has anything bad to say about him?!?! The list of artists that have covered his songs is endless...and filled with prominent and well-respected musicians. A musical genious at a young age...a life tragically ended way too early. Rave On.

Its funny but when you read the comments usually there is at least one bad one but not with Buddy and I hope it stays that way. We can only imagine what he would have done had he lived. He was a man before his time and would have probably made his peers look like nothing once we really found his stride. As long as people play the music of Buddy Holly Rock N Roll will never die.

Quite simply "THE MAN"

THE REAL FORERUNNER OF ROCK MUSIC--EVERYONE IS IN HIS DEBT. HIS SONGS WERE TOP-NOTCH. A TRUE LEGEND----MCLEAN WAS RIGHT ON--WHEN HE DIED--THE MUSIC DIED.

He put out an enormous amount of music at a very young age, and in only a year and a half. It's hard to imagine what all he would have done if he had lived longer. ("Well All Right" is his best song.) He's still among the best in his industry.

Just visited Lubbock and went to the Buddy Holly Center. They've done a great job there. Lots of memorabilia, (even his trademark glasses, recovered from the crash site and finally returned to the family almost 30 years later!), and plenty of background on this remarkable performer. What a loss.....

Now here's a guy with talent. Good clean, original sound. Can't find anything like it today.

a true king one we lost for too soon a great songwritter and singer

Buddy Holly is a great rockn'n'roller. He had a range of talent, unlike a lot of limited artists, compare 'raining in my heart' to 'rave on'!. Also he changed the future of music, insipiring bands like 'The Beatles' and changing the way music has been produced since, even if you haven't heard his music, you are affected by it through every performer since! Although he was not attractive his music was of an outstandingly high quality and this is what counts, kick it all you like but its still here after fifty years! The best intro you could have is to see the great stage show, started in London although the film gives a lively, if inaccurate idea of his life

gone too soon

He wasn't your photogenic pop idol like Elvis or Johnny Cochran but the legacy he has left behind cannot be compared to anyone. He was in a style of his own and was an important benchmark for a lot of British invasion bands as well as American artists of the early 60s and beyond. What if he wouldn't have flown that cold February night? He'd only be five years older than Mick Jagger had he lived.

Buddy Holly was one of the greatest artists I've ever heard, and I say artist because was he does with one little song nothing can explain it better then ART!

Better than Elvis - better song writer, better guitaristy, just better.

I am convinced that if he had lived, his career would have lasted into at least the mid 1960s. Pure rock and roll classic.

True definition of a classic. Who knows what he could have accomplished if he had lived?

There have always been several Buddy Holly songs that I liked, but I used to not understand why he is considered to be as legendary as he is. After some investigation and listening a little more closely, I think I understand better now. Along with just being one of the more skilled rock & roll musicians of his day, he was the first rock & roller to be his own producer. He was also one of the first really good singer-songwriters. He used chords and chord progressions that were not used in rock & roll music by anyone else at that time (I think that is part of what John Lennon was referring to when he noted Buddy Holly as an influence on the Beatles). Some of my favorite Buddy Holly recordings: That'll Be The Day, Not Fade Away, Well All Right, Love's Made A Fool Of You, Rave On, Rock Around With Ollie Vee, Slippin' and Slidin'

His death was tragic. He had so much potential in the late '50s. A compilation from him is a great as well as fun CD. The time that his career spanned doesn't give him a place as one of the greatest of all-time, yet I still greatly enjoy his music and I'm sure if he had lived up until now, he probably would've evolved in the '60s and beyond.

Umm...does anyone NOT love Buddy Holly? I saw that movie about him. It wasn't the best film but it explained a lot (how he got the name "the crickets" for his band). And what a great live performer he was! His music had so much liveliness they thought he was a black man. I've heard it over and over all through my life: Elvis started it, Buddy took it to the next level, and the rest... is history.

A true rock star. So cool, so talented, so handsome.

Without Buddy Holly, rock n roll probably wouldn't have survived the fifties, at least not in the way we all know and love it. Along with Chuck Berry and Little Richard, and perhaps Elvis, he created rock and roll. He was a very gifted man.

A legend in his time that did not get enough credit.

To be a young kid surrounded by the new sound of Rock'n Roll was quite an experience with the new performers such as Elvis, Little Richard and Buddy Holly. Of course as close as most of us get to our music heros is through their music. However, fourty years later when I stood in that Iowa cornfield on the spot where three of my childhood idols died, I was suddenly closer than one can imagine.

For a young man that left the world too soon. I would rate him as one of the best. He influenced the Beatles and Rolling Stones, and continues to delight me with his classics everytime I listen to them. His tunes are very catchy.

My dad was just a kid when he died, but his music is great. Such a contrast to the MTV crap nowadays.

my man buddy died 43 years ago tonight and i sincerely regret never having met or seen him in person. this incredible talent was truly a gift that every person should cherish. here's to you Buddy, thanks for the music!

Buddy left us much too soon. Finally after all these years his hometown of Lubbock has a Buddy Holly Museum. If you are close by it would be well worth your time to stop by. There is also quite a few of Buddy'S personal items in the museum

no impersonators, no personalized theme parks, very little merchandising by comparison. such an amazing and underappreciated influence on rock music today. his death was tragic, but in a way i think he was lucky he died when he did: he was spared from living to see the seventies. i kind-of like the fact that his innocent and relatively unexploited face remains locked in the legendary romanticism of the fifties.

I consider Buddy Holly to be one of the most under rated musicians in musical history: I think that he should be regarded in terms of influence on a par with Elvis, especially when one considers the extremely short time he was recording. His guitar-playing, singing and song-writing were completely unique and it is indisputable that he helped to define the sound of both the Beatles and the Stones.

If only he had lived, we could have seen his musical talents grow to God knows how high. His music is pretty diverse for early rock 'n roll, from "Peggy Sue" to "True Love Ways". Rock lost a true legend on February 3, 1959....

Writer, producer, musician, singer, arranger. Buddy Holly was so far ahead of his time that there is no way to no how big an impact he would have had on the music world had he lived past that tragic Winter Dance Party. As it is, the Beatles and the Stones have always admitted that Buddy Holly was a huge influence. It is especially noticeable with the Beatles. You should check out Buddy Holly:a biography, by Ellis Amburn. You'll be amazed at what Holly had in mind for his own future.

Thanks for the music Buddy.

Before Buddy Holly there was no real singer/songwriter, there was no real lead guitarest and nobody who acted normal and really didn't care how they looked he made music matter not the way the image sold.Buddy was god and no Buddy Holly no John Lennon.

A little before my time, but truly the day that the music died.

How can any one give less than 5 stars?, he deserves more than that! [email protected] is right there should be an option of 10 stars, Buddy was the best and still is - he lives on! Buddyoungirl ( a 14 year old - I'm not the youngest fan! )

Buddy rocked!! He was the man!

One of the greatest figures in American culture, period. Behind those big square glasses, he was the epitome of cool. His rock songs burst with energy; his slow songs are delicate and perfect. His biography is an inspiration to people of good heart with big dreams... I can't say enough about Buddy Holly. I wish I could give him 10 stars instead of 5. Anyone who doesn't own his greatest hits is missing out.

The first white guy to play the Apollo!! AH YEEEAH!