María Elena Holly
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María Elena Holly (born María Elena Santiago in 1935) is the widow of the famous musician Buddy Holly. At a very young age, both her parents died.
María was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Working for a New York music publisher as a receptionist is how María came to meet Buddy Holly. Holly proposed on their first date, and although she thought he was kidding, they were married in Lubbock, Texas, August 15, 1958, less than two months after they had first met. She says, "I fell in love with that man the minute he came through those doors."
María sometimes traveled with Buddy’s band, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, doing laundry and setting up equipment. At the age of 22, Buddy was killed in a plane crash on February 3, 1959, with María being pregnant at the time. María miscarried shortly after Buddy died, seemingly caused by the tragedy. She was so upset by his death that she couldn’t listen to his music for many years and she left the theater during "The Buddy Holly Story” thirty years later.
María eventually remarried and had three children. She is now a divorced grandmother living in Dallas, Texas.
María has spent her life protecting Buddy Holly’s legacy. She caused some controversy when she wanted to charge the city of Lubbock to use Buddy’s name in naming a street the "Buddy Holly Walk of Fame" and a terrace "Buddy Holly Terrace". Buddy had written and released the song "Peggy Sue" in 1957. A second song written by Holly, "Peggy Sue Got Married", was released after his death. The namesake of those songs, Peggy Sue Gerron, has now written a book called "Whatever Happened to Peggy Sue?", and it’s got María ready to take legal action. María says that the book is unauthorized and will harm her and her company’s reputations.
María owns the rights to Buddy’s name, image, trademarks, and other intellectual property. María even says that the original lyrics to the song were "Cindy Lou", for Buddy’s niece, but that bandmate Jerry Allison wanted to change the lyrics because he had a crush on Peggy Sue, who he later married.[1]
