The Crickets were THE American Rock and Roll Band. With a career that spanned almost five
decades coupled with millions of record sales, there is no denying this musical group's excellence.
Their influence can clearly be heard in the music of just about every major rock band
and performer of their time, from Bob Dylan to The Rolling Stones and even The Beatles.
In fact, Paul McCartney once said that if it weren't for The Crickets, there would have
been no Beatles.
Many of their hit songs like Not Fade Away, That'll Be The Day, I fought the Law, Peggie
Sue, and More Than I Can Say are considered to be rock classics.
They formed in Lubbock, Texas, in 1957. The founding members were Buddy Holly on lead
vocals and lead guitar, Nicki Sulivan on rhythm guitar, and J.J. Allison on drums, although,
shortly after forming the group, bassist Joe B. Mauldin was also brought aboard.
The Crickets were notable for being one of the first rock and roll outfits that were
entirely self-contained. They wrote, performed, produced, and recorded all of their own music
and were among the first rock groups to employ techniques such as multi-track recording and
overdubbing that would later become standard.
But their true claim to fame was being one of the first bands to make rock and roll music
accessible to their audience. They helped set the template of what rock and roll were
all about. Their first hit record 'That'll Be The Day' was released in May of 1957. The
single peaked at number three on the Billboard Top 100 chart on the 16th of September, 1957.
Buddy Holly died in a horrific plane crash in 1959. After his death, The Crickets continued
to tour and record with different line-ups of band members well into the 21st Century.
The band gave their final performance on February 6, 2016, at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake,
Iowa, which happened to be the site of Buddy Holly's last performance.
Join Facts Verse as we take some time to reflect on this wildly influential band. We'll be
discussing how many of the band members who have been a part of The Cricket's line-up
over the years have died. Fittingly, let's get started by talking about the 'day the
music died'.
Buddy Holly
In early 1959, 22-year-old Buddy Holly embarked on a tour across the American Midwest, playing
shows at various ballrooms and auditoriums. The tour, which was dubbed 'The Winter Dance
Party' kicked off on January 23 in Milwaukee during what would be one of the coldest winters
in recorded history.
The Cricket's traveled in a heated bus, but it unfortunately was prone to mechanical failure.
So, one evening after the bus had petered out once again, Holly charted a plane to take
him and his tour partners to the next gig.
On February 3, 1959, The Cricket's frontman boarded an airplane along with Ritchie Valens
and J. P. 'Big Bopper' Richardson, not far from Clear Lake, Iowa. Tragically, just minutes
after takeoff, the craft crashed, killing everyone on board almost instantly.
Holly's bassist at the time, Waylon Jennings, would be haunted by the events of that evening
for decades, as he had given away his seat to Richardson who was under the weather with
the flu just moments before the plane took flight.
Buddy Holly's plane crash is considered to be one of the most tragic happenings in the
history of rock and roll. It's even been dubbed 'the day the music died'.
Tommy Allsup
Allsup was a member of Buddy Holly's touring band for the 1959 Winter Dance Party shows.
As far as recording with the band, he played lead on song's like It's So Easy and Lonesome
Tears.
After Buddy Holly's plane crashed, investigators initially thought that Allsup had also been
killed. He had given Holly his wallet so that he could use his ID to collect a piece of
mail on his behalf. In truth, he almost did die on that doomed flight, but after losing
a coin toss to Ritchie Valens, he lost his seat but his life was spared.
Allsup was active in the music industry for almost seventy years. After the Winter Dance
Party tour came to an abrupt and dramatic end, Alssup continued his musical career as
a rockabilly and Western swing guitarist.
He died after complications from hernia surgery at the age of 85 at a hospital in Springfield,
Missouri, on January 11, 2017.
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Niki Sullivan
Sullivan was one of the original members of The Crickets, although he quickly lost interest
in the band just months after joining. His guitar work played a significant role in Buddy
Holly's early success. During his brief career, he performed on 27 out of the 32 songs that
Holly and The Crickets put out.
Since he bore a slight resemblance to Buddy Holly, being skinny with glasses, he was often
referred to as 'the other guy with glasses' in critic's reviews and magazine articles.
After The Cricket's appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on December 1, 1957, the band briefly
went on a hiatus to gear up for their next recording.
During this time, Sullivan announced that he had permanently left the band. He would
later reveal that he did this because he was struggling to keep up with the intensive tour
schedule.
After retiring from the music industry, Sullivan took a job working for Sony. In 1978, he reunited
with Mauldin, Allison, and the Cricket's new lead singer Sonny Curtis for a one-off performance
at a Buddy Holly Festival.
Sullivan died of a heart attack at the age of 66 on April 6, 2004.
Jerry Naylor
After Holly's death in 1959, Naylor became the lead singer for The Crickets in 1961.
Jerry Allison, who had become the sole owner of The Cricket's name, and the band's manager
H. Daniel Whitman, offered Naylor the position after signing with Liberty Record.
Naylor recorded with The Crickets as the band's lead singer until 1964. The group's first
hit with Liberty was the song 'Don't Ever Change', which reached number 5 on the UK
charts. The Beatles covered the track live on the BBC in 1963.
After leaving The Crickets, Naylor had success with his song 'Is This All There Is To A Honky
Tonk' in 1974. It peaked at number 31 on the Country Charts in March 1975.
In 2013, Naylor, who was then 74, revealed that during his days touring with The Crickets
and beyond, he used his fame as a cover to work as a secret agent for the CIA. He claimed
that he was recruited over 100 times to spy for his country under the guise of being a
touring musician.
Allegedly, his first mission was in Japan in 1968 when he was asked to collect a briefcase
from Taiwan. During one of his later missions, he helped the US derail the presidential campaign
of an ally of Colonel Gaddafi.
Naylor further claimed that other US stars had to have been recruited for similar jobs.
Nayler died of natural causes on December 5, 2019, at the age of 80.
Joe B Mauldin
Rolling Stone once described Mauldin's bass playing with The Cricket's as having set the
pulse of rock & roll music.
He was born and raised in West Texas. When he was 17, he began playing music with his
friend Buddy Holly and his new band, The Crickets. After Holly's death in 1959, The Crickets
reformed with a new vocalist, Earl Sinks, and lead guitarist, Sonny Curtis.
In the 60s, Mauldin briefly left the group. In 1964 he enrolled in the US Army. After
being discharged two years later, he started working as a recording engineer over at Gold
Star Studios. By the mid-1970s, Mauldin had rejoined The Crickets. He remained with the
group until he lost his battle with cancer on February 7, 2015, at the age of 74.
Earl Sinks
Sinks started performing with Bob Wills at the age of 12. In 1958, he recorded two singles
under the Alias Henry. After Buddy Holly broke up with the recording incarnation of The Crickets
near the end of 1958, Sink was brought in to record with the band as its lead singer
since he had a similar singing style to Holly.
After Holly's death in 1959, he recorded and performed with The Crickets on the album In
Style With the Crickets. His association with the band ended in February 1960 after some
kind of disagreement.
Throughout the 60s, Sinks acted in a number of low-budget films and TV shows. From 1966
to 2013, he recorded and occasionally toured with the band The Mar-Vels. Since the 1970s,
Sinks shifted focus to the business side of things and ran Ace of Hearts Records.
Sinks died at the age of 77 at his home on May 13, 2017.
Buddy Holly died over 60 years ago, but his legacy will live on forever. Likewise, the
band members of The Crickets made significant contributions to the world of music that won't
soon be forgotten.
What's your favorite song by Buddy Holly and The Crickets? And how do you think things
would played out if Holly never chartered that ill-fated flight in 1959? Let us know
in the comments.
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