Tommy Allsup, guitarist for Buddy Holly and the Crickets, is born in Owasso, Oklahoma.
Sonny Curtis, guitarist for the Crickets, is born in Meadow, Texas.
Niki Sullivan, guitarist for the Crickets, is born in Southgate, California.
Jerry Ivan ("J.I.") Allison, drummer for the Crickets, is born in Hillsboro, Texas.
Joe Benson Mauldin, Jr., bassist for the Crickets, is born in Lubbock, Texas.
Best friends Buddy (Holly) and Bob (Montgomery) audition for radio station KDAV in Lubbock. The teenage duo is given a half-hour show on Sunday afternoons, during which they perform country and bluegrass standards.
Buddy Holly and Bob Montgomery open for Elvis Presley at Lubbock's Fair Park Coliseum.
Buddy Holly and Bob Montgomery- joined by bassist Larry Welborn- again open for Elvis Presley at Lubbock's Fair Park Coliseum.
The trio of Buddy Holly, Bob Montgomery and Larry Welborn opens for Bill Haley and his Comets in Lubbock. Holly impress
Signed to Decca Records, Buddy Holly and the Two-Tones go to Nashville for his first official recording session. The Owen Bradley–- produced session yields four tracks, including Holly's debut single ("Blue Days, Black Night") and a classic cover (:Midnight Shift").
Buddy Holly, along with Sonny Curtis, Don Guess and drummer Jerry Allison, return to NAshville for more sessions with producer Owen Bradley.
Buddy Holly and the Two-Tones (Sonny Curtis and Don Guess) kick off a 14-date country & western tour in Little Rock, Arkansas. They're bottom-billed on a lineup that includes Hank Thompson, George Jones, Wanda Jackson and Cowboy Copas.
Buddy Holly records "That'll Be the Day" at Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico. The singleis released on the Brunswick label (a Deca subsidiary) and credited to the Crickets.
Buddy Holly signs two contracts with A&R man Rob Thiele. One is for recordings attributed to the Crickets, to be released on the Brunswick label. The other is for recordings credited to Buddy Holly, to be released on the Cora label.
"That'll Be the Day," by Buddy Holly and the Crickets, hits #1. "Peggy Sue," which has been released three days earlier, will reach #3.
The "Chirping" Crickets, the first (and only) album by Buddy Holly and the Crickets, is released on Brunswick Records.
Buddy Holly and the Crickets perform "That'll Be the Day" and "Peggy Sue" on The Ed Sullivan Show.
"Oh Boy!" reaches #10, becoming Holly's third Top 10 hit in three months.
Buddy Holly and the Crickets perform at Brooklyn's Paramount Theater on a bill with Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewisand others that kicks off Alan Freed's Big Beat Show, a two-month tour.
Buddy Holly and the Crickets, joined by Tommy Allsup and his band, kick off their Summer Dance Party tour of the Midwest.
Buddy Holly and Maria Elena Santiago are married in Lubbock, Texas. The couple and fellow newlyweds Jerry and Peggy Sue Allison take a two-week honeymoon in Acapulco, Mexico.
"Real Wild Child" credited to IVAN (drummer Jerry Allison'smiddle name) and featuring Buddy Holly with Allison and backup singers the Roses- enters the Billboard chart, where it will peak at #68.
Buddy Holly and the Crickets share the bill with Bobby Darin, Dion and the Belmonts, Clyde McPhatter, and the Coasters in Worcester, Mass. It is the first date of another caravan tour, the Biggest Show of Stars for 1958 The Autumn Edition.
The Winter Dance Party is launched at George Devine's Million Dollar BAllroom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. BUddy Holly, who has parted ways with the Crickets, is the headliner.
Buddy Holly charters a plane to fly him to Fargo, North Dakota, after performing at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. The plane crashes eight miles from the airfield, killing Holly, fellow performers Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson (aka The Big Bopper), and pilot Roger Peterson.
"It Doesn't Matter Anymore," written by Paul Anka and recorded by Holly at his last studio session, becomes a posthumous hit.
In Style With the Crickets, an album by Buddy Holly's former group, is released on Coral Records.
"He's Old Enough to Know Better," by the Crickets, enters Billboard's "Bubbling Under the Hot 100" chart, peaking at #105.
Bobby Vee Meets the Crickets- which pairs the singer who substituted for Buddy Holly after his plane crash with Holly's former band- is released.
The Crickets release Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, SOmething Else!!!, their third album since Buddy Holly's death.
The Crickets release California Sun, their fourth album.
The Buddy Holly Story, a best-of album that has been in print since 1959, is certified gold (500,000 copies sold).
Rockin' 50s Rock & Roll, an album on which the Crickets revisit their hits with Buddy Holly, is released on the Barnaby label.
Remnants, by the Crickets, is released on the Vertigo label.
A Long Way from Lubbock, by the Crickets, is released in the U.K. only on the Mercury label.
Lifelong fan Paul McCartney purchases rights to the entire Buddy Holly song catalog.
On what would have been Buddy Holly's 40th birthday, his life and music are the subject of a weeklong tribute organized by Paul McCArtney. "Buddy Holly Week" becomes an annual affair.
Four former members of Buddy Holly and the Crickets Jerry Allison, Joe B. MAuldin, Niki Sullivan and Sonny Curtis perform together at a Buddy Holly fan club convention in Connecticut.
The Buddy Holly Story, a popular film biography starring GAry Busey in the title role, is released. Twelve years later, the actor pays $250,000 at auction for an acoustic guitar that belonged to Holly.
A commemorative concert is held at the Surf Ballroom in Clear LAke, Iows, exactly 20 years after the final show played by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Del Shannon and the Big Bopper. Shannon and the Drifters are among the performers.
Three Piece, by the Crickets, is released in the U.K. on the Rollercoaster label. It will be re-released worldwide a year later on Columbia Records with a new title, T-Shirt.
Sonny Curtis an early member of Buddy Holly and the Crickets, is inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Association's Hall of Fame.
Double Exposure, an album of re-recorded Buddy Holly era hits by the Crickets, is released in the U.K. only on the Rollercoaster label.
Not Fade Away: Remembering Buddy Holly- a tribute album with contributions from such performers as Los Lobos, the Mavericks, Marty Stuart and Steve Earle- is released.
Too Much Monday Morning, by the Crickets, is released in the U.K. only on the Carlton label.
Niki Sullivan, guitarist for the Crickets, dies of natural causes in Sugar Creek, Missouri. He is 66 years old.
The Crickets and Their Buddies- on which the Crickets are joined by such admirers and colleagues as Eric Clapton, Waylon Jennings and Bobby Vee- is released on the Sovereign Arts label.
The Real Buddy Holly Story- a documentary produced and hosted by Paul McCartney and featuring interviews with the Crickets- is released on DVD.
Not Fade Away: The Complete Studio Recordings and More, by Buddy Holly, is released on Hip-O Select. This six-disc box set includes every known recording made by Holly with and without the Crickets.
RAve On Buddy Holly, an album of covers by such artists as the Black Keys, Modest Mouse and My Morning JAcket, is released on the Hear Music label.
The Crickets are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 27th annual induction ceremony. Smokey Robinson is their presenter.
