By: Andrew Vaughan

At the beginning of September 2011, rock and roll finally honored one of the all time greats with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was only 52 years after the 1959 plane crash that killed the 22-year-old Holly, the day Don McLean said in American Pie, that the “music died.”
 
The ceremony took place on the day Buddy would have turned 75 and his star is close to the a group of Luverpudlians, John George and Ringo—60s legends who drew so much inspiration from the songs and style of Texas rocker, Buddy Holly.

 
There’s even a brilliant tribute album released this month, Listen To Me: Buddy Holly, that brought together a staggering collection of artists, including Ringo Starr, Brian Wilson, Jackson Browne, Stevie Nicks, The Fray, Zooey Deschanel, Cobra Starship, Lyle Lovett, and Chris Isaak. It’s the first in a series of tribute albums developed by Songmasters, an organization that offers resources and support to young musicians. Proceeds from sales of the album benefit a consortium of groups, including the Grammy Foundation and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
 
Then there was an incredible live all-star concert that saw Stevie Nicks, Phil Everly and Elvis’ guitar player, James Burton, all honoring the boy from Lubbock.
But my question remains, how the heck did Holly wait over 50 years to get this Hollywood honor? It turns out, it was all the work of a fan, Kevin Magowen who fought for his hero to be recognized.
 
Peter Asher, artist, producer, and the Beatles-appointed A&R man for Apple Records in the 60s, has no doubts that Holly would have been a major player in the entertainment business, had he lived.
 
Even by the age of 22, Holly had transformed the music business. He ushered in the notion that artists could write their own songs and record them. He wanted and got control in the studio and he was eager to explore different kinds of music. Ten, maybe twenty years ahead of his time, Holly would surely have been a dominating figure during the global music explosion of the ‘60s.
Asher told me recently, "He was the first of the singer-songwriters, but more importantly the first, to want to change the nature of the business. What would the 75-year-old Holly be like? It’s hard to overstate what he would have achieved."
 
Nothing against the other rock and rollers inducted into the inaugural class at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, (such as: Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, James Brown and the Everlys) many years ago. But of all those superstars, Holly was perhaps the most adventurous, the most pioneering, and the most likely to have taken pop music to a new dimension and a new audience. Maybe I should just be glad that Holly’s finally been honored in Hollywood. After all, sometimes good guys do win, and maybe Hollywood just left the best till last.

 
Andrew Vaughan is a well-known and respected Nashville based writer. As a music critic his work has appeared in Billboard, Music Week, Mojo, "Q", the London Times, the Guardian, and Folk Roots. He was the founding director of Country Music International magazine and a regular guest on BBC Radio, BBC TV, and VH1.